Faith's Temptation
by Lupo669
Summary: Buffy has a life changing experience and tries to tempt Faith
1. Chapter 1

_A/N: I'm not usually big on Author notes, but……. The first chapter of this story was previously posted as a one shot called "A Walk in the Night" at . Then I started doing some manips and came up with a series of them called Faith's Temptation which I posted at . So after going back through this short I decided it was a good jumping off point for a longer story. I'm going to try and link the manips to the appropriate chapters, if it doesn't work and you're interested, you can check them out at . Thanks for indulging my rant…………….._

Faith's Temptation – 

Chapter 1: A Walk in the Night

Disclaimer: I do not own any of the recognizable characters contained within.

That would be Joss Whedon, Mutant Enemy, etc….

Faith's Temptation

"There you are B," Faith said as she walked into the cemetery. "Why ya here all by your lonesome?"

Buffy turned to the dark haired slayer and felt her heart speed up a little. She really was glad to see Faith. She had been at the slaying business going on three years and was tired of facing the demons alone. Yea, she had the Scoobies, but they could only do so much. Half the time she was distracted making sure they didn't end up as dinner for some vamp they were fighting, when trying to help her. But she couldn't tell them that. It would just make them resent her even more and increase the distance she felt building between them.

"Hey Faith, just looking for a little slayage to take the edge off," she replied smiling.

"I hear that. How about we double up and do some real damage." Faith said with a smirk of her full lips.

As Faith moved closer, Buffy said, "That sounds like a plan. Though, I thought you were out looking to get some and get gone?"

Faith blew out a breath, "Well that didn't work out to good, seems like all you have around here are jocks, wannabe jocks, and never be jocks."

"Yea the never ending supply of lameness that is Sunnydale does wonders for a girls options," Buffy replied with a sigh.

"So have you actually found a nest? Or are we just gonna troll?" Faith asked.

"I figure I'd just walk through the cemeteries one by one, looking like a defenseless little blonde until a vamp or two tried to take me. Then I'd get to work out some of my issues," Buffy said, "I like to think of it as proactive therapy."

Faith wasn't sure if Buffy was purposefully giving her an opening to question what was going on with the older slayer or if she just didn't care anymore, so she took a chance.

"B, I know things haven't been that great between you and the Scoobies since they found out Angel was back. And I know it must of hurt like hell when you realized it could never be the same with Angel, but you shouldn't keep going out on these kamikaze runs. One of these nights your gonna find yourself with your back against the wall and no way out. Unless, that's sorta the point?"

Buffy looked into Faith's dark brown eyes and once again wondered how she could have kept pushing the younger slayer away when she first came to town. "Nah, that really isn't the way I want to go out. Although, going down in a blaze of glory does have its merits. Like being thought of as a heroine forever, you know, statues built in my likeness, but not as cute. National holidays, Greeting cards being made to commemorate the event, yada,yada,yada."

Faith laughed glad to see Buffy showing a sense of humor. "I'll tell ya B, I can't see them ever making a holiday to honor you, I mean come on, all the malls being closed? Shoe stores shutdown for the day? It just ain't gonna happen."

"Yea, well, I can always dream, huh?" Buffy replied.

By this time the two girls had walked completely around the cemetery with not so much as a squirrel rustling through the brush.

"How about this Faith, lets head on over to Holmstead cemetery and see if there is anything shaking there. If not we can go back to my house and have a double chocolate chip ice cream feast and watch bad horror movies?" Buffy said as she headed towards the front gate.

"As plans go, I've heard worse," Faith said. "Are you sure you're alright?"

In a low voice Buffy said, "Like you say, five by five."


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2: The Master Plan

Disclaimer: I do not own any of the recognizable characters contained within.

That would be Joss Whedon, Mutant Enemy, etc….

Faith: POV-

So, I'm walking down the street. It's a typical warm summer day here in Sunnydale. I had gotten up early today (early for me is anytime before one o'clock in the afternoon) and decided that today would be the perfect day to start on my "Master Plan".

Ya see, a couple of nights ago confirmed it. After we left off the patrol, B and me went back to her place and just chilled. It was great! No Scoobies hanging around asking dumb questions. No Watchers saying to research this, report on that. It was just me and her, watching flicks and piggin out. It was one of the few times I've seen B just let herself be herself. Know what I mean?

The plan had been in my head for awhile now and the need to start on it had been growing steadily more demanding. Thinking back, the plan had started forming right after the "Great Revelation". Of course the "Great Revelation" had come shortly after I arrived here in Sunnyhell.

It had happened right after the night at the Bronze when I first met Buffy. I'd been in town for a couple of days trying to figure out how I was going to track down the Slayer that my first Watcher had told me about. Then fate or destiny or whatever stepped in. I was on the dance floor when this vamp comes up and starts dancing around me. Guess he was thinking 'quick happy meal' or something. As if no one would notice his clothes looked right out of the disco era. So I decide to play along, what the hell right? I might as well get in some slayage while I'm waiting for this Buffy chick to put in an appearance. Buffy. Man, I almost choked when my Watcher told me that the current Slayer was named Buffy Summers and lived in California. What kinda name is Buffy?

Anyhow, I let this vamp think I bought into his routine and I lead him outside to the alley alongside the Bronze. No sooner do we get into the shadows, when he goes right for my neck. Dumbass. I slap him around a little and then, who should appear at the head of the alley, but this tiny little blonde. No shit, she couldn't have been more than five foot two and a hundred pounds soaking wet. Then I see the wood stake in her hand and put two and two together. "Hi, you must be Buffy. Can I borrow this?" I asked, as I took the stake from out of her hand. Then I spun around and slammed it into the vamps chest, dusting him.

Returning the stake back to the little blonde I said, "Thanks, couldn't of done it without ya. I'm Faith. The vampire slayer." Buffy was standing there with her mouth hanging slightly open, her bright green eyes wide. I took a closer look and thought to myself, 'Damn, she's pretty cute for a midget'. At almost the same time I could feel a little electric shock run up my spine. 'What the hell was that?' I thought to myself.

I gave my head a quick shake to try and clear it. Meanwhile the red head with Buffy started to speak up. "Oh, oh, you're a vampire slayer too? So is Buffy. Hey Buffy, how can there be another slayer? You didn't die lately have you? Changing that whole 'one girl in all the world' thingy again?"

Buffy's jaw finally snapped shut with an audible click as she turned to glare at the redhead. "I'm not sure Will, but maybe we can ask Giles. He probably has a long and boring reason how it could happen." Oh, oh," the redhead gushed out, "I know, I bet it happened when Kendra died." She stood there looking like she solved the mysteries of the universe, but after seeing the look from Buffy she looked down at her feet with her smile disappearing.

I just stood there, listening to the byplay, while checking Buffy out. I couldn't put my finger on it, but there was definitely something about this blonde that I liked. I was getting a feeling from her. Almost like a psychic buzz that I couldn't explain. Nah, I must just be jazzed still from the fight. Yea, that's it.

"So, who's Kendra?" I asked just a little curious. The girl with Buffy responded, "She's a slayer that was here last year. She was called after Buffy died for a little while. She was killed during a fight with a vampire that was helping to end the world. Okay, shutting up now."

I gave Buffy a big grin, "You died?"

Buffy still hadn't said two words to me. "I got better," she muttered. She finished her glare at the red head and turned back, finally getting herself under control. "So, Faith, wanna join us inside? Maybe you can explain how you happen to be in Sunnydale and how you became a slayer?

"Sure, I'm game. Who're you, Red?" I asked.

Buffy seemed a little startled. Like she had forgotten the other girl was even standing next to her, though she had just finished talking to her. "Oh, sorry, this is Willow", she stammered. For some reason, Buffy was acting like something was making her brain shutdown. She blinked her eyes a couple of times and continued, "Willow has been my best friend since I moved here three years ago."

The three of us went back inside the Bronze. I followed them over to the table they had been sitting at before the slay break. We spent some time trading stories back and forth and I was introduced to Xander (lame), Cordelia (hot but snobby) and Willow's boy toy, Oz (bass player in a band, not bad). As the night came to a close everyone headed home. Everyone but me that is. Since I didn't really have a home, I headed back to the shitty little motel room I had managed to get when I hit town.

As I got ready for bed, I couldn't keep thoughts of Buffy from running through my mind. 'Cute, in a valley girl/cheerleading kinda way,' I thought as I stripped off my clothes and slipped into an oversized tee shirt. 'But doesn't seem to be big in the brains department', my mind insisted as I laid down on the motels beat up mattress. 'I mean come on, she like totally forgot that her "best bud" was standing right there next to her? Talk about clueless.' I turned off the light and decided just to forget about it. There was always tomorrow to see what this Buffy chick was really like. So I turned over and went to sleep.

The next day I met up with Buffy and we went to meet her Watcher. Turns out he was the librarian at the school. Convenient, huh? That Watchers Council really knows how to slip into a girl's life. He was an older guy, sorta reminded me of a lawyer or something. Of course he was British, what Watcher isn't? So we go over the whole how I came to Sunnydale after I became a Slayer thing. I felt kinda bad about leaving out the whole Kakistos story, but just telling them my Watcher died was hard enough without going into the gory details. Know what I mean? Giles said he would call the Council and let them know I was still alive and alright, (yea, sure). Then he told Buffy to take me around and show me the ropes of the Hellmouth.

Over the next couple of weeks I found out that I could get Buffy to make the cutest expression if I annoyed her a little. That's when I started calling her B instead of Buffy. I also found out B wasn't quite as clueless as I first thought. In fact after going on a few patrols with her, it was pretty obvious why she was the longest lived slayer so far. She was smart, wicked strong, could think on her feet and when she was in the middle of a battle, she really brought it. I could actually see the way Buffy's eyes would light up as she was fighting vampires. Sure, she was always hesitant to jump into a battle when she didn't know the odds, but whenever I leapt in, B was ALWAYS right behind me.

Then there was the whole Gwendolyn Post deal. That was the only way that I found out that Buffy's ex, Angel, was back from the hell dimension she sent him to. Before that, I had felt that me and Buffy were really getting closer. We were starting to click. Then he came back and all of a sudden it's like I didn't even exist anymore. Which kinda pissed me off. I had half a mind to find Angel one night and dust him just to save B any future pain. Of course in the end I didn't have to. Soulboy screwed up on the "Livin Flame" spell and after the Glove of Myhnegon was toast, so was he. Heh, heh. I'm glad he's gone, but the pain that lived in Buffy's eyes afterward almost made me wish he wasn't. Man, she doesn't ever deserve to feel that much pain. Ever.

Anyhow, the "Great Revelation" came next. Me and B were out on patrol when we came across some vamps. This was right after the Council sent a new Watcher to town. Seems Giles had an issue with the head of the Watchers Council and got himself fired. Go Giles. Anyway me and B were talking back and forth as usual while making with the slayage. When the vamps were dusted, Buffy said that we missed some. "How do you know?" I asked. Buffy just answered back "I think too much", while looking at some footprints in the dirt.

When we had gotten back to the library were Giles and the new (extremely lame) Watcher Wesley something-something were, we found out the vamps were part of a sect called the Illuminati. Apparently these guy's worked for a demon called Balthazar, that needed a medallion of some kind to bring his power back. So Wesley tells Buffy to go out and get the medallion first. Of course I followed her that night to make sure she was alright.

As I got to the cemetery I saw B head into a crypt and a few minutes later six vamps go in after her. The vamps come back out and I go in lookin for B. I couldn't believe it, she was hiding in a cement coffin. She's the god damned Chosen One and she's hiding from a few vamps? So I grab her and we head outside in time to see the last of the vamps jumpin down through a manhole. Buffy wants to work out a plan, like I said sometimes she can be a little hesitant. I told her I was goin and if she didn't come I might die. You know just pullin her chain a little. Like a few vamps could ever take me down.

So we jumped down after them and there turned out to be more than even I expected. We start doing the whole slay thing. Kickin ass, not botherin to take names. I mean we are in full slayer mode and really starting to get in the groove when one of them gets a lucky shot and I'm dazed for a minute. Another one has his sword and he's starting to run me through, when my girl throws a stake from across the friggin room and dusts him. I give her a big smile, dimples and all, and I get that little electric feeling again. I shake it off and get back in the fight, but when I look over, the leader of this clan has Buffy by the back of her head and is pushing her face into a trough of water.

I get grabbed from behind and can't get over to help her. I scream out her name "Buffy" and the "Great Revelation" happens just as she stops movin. She's just laying there with her face still in the water. All of a sudden I don't care what else is goin on, I don't care what's trying to stop me, I know I have to get loose and save her. Why you ask? Because that electric shock I had been feeling hit me again, only this time like a tidal wave and I knew what it was this time. I loved her. I was in love with Buffy. I had never, ever been in love with anyone or anything before in my entire life, but I knew this for what it was. I LOVED Buffy. I would die for her. I would kill for her.

I screamed out my frustration and broke loose from the vamp that held me. I turned and dusted him then moved to get Buffy outta there, but she was springing up out of the water, swinging a sword around like one of the Musketeers. Unbelievable, nothing can keep that girl down.

I give her a shout full of the relief I was feeling, "Yo, B, we gotta motor", just as she disarms the vamp leader. Without blinking an eye she says, "we came for the medallion" then snags it with her sword from outta the vampire's belt. As she looks at it the lead vamp takes off like all the demons in hell are after him, or would that be angels in heaven? Anyhow I asked B if she didn't feel just a little bit jazzed with all the action and you know what she says? She just says "It didn't suck." But she has that look in her eyes, the one I love seeing there, and I knew we would be better than just good together, we would be great together.

The next night we tracked down this Balthazar guy to an old warehouse and blew in like gangbusters. B and me took out the henchmen in record time and as a bonus B threw a power cable into Balthazar's hot tub and fried that sucker. I told you she was good didn't I.

Where was I, oh yea, the Master Plan. Basically my plan is to show Buffy how to live. How to find the fun everyday in our destined to be short lives. Along the way I'm gonna try to get her to fall in love with me. Maybe as much as I'm in love with her.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3: Our Slay Date

Disclaimer: I do not own any of the recognizable characters contained within.

That would be Joss Whedon, Mutant Enemy, etc….

A HUGE thanks to Jinxgirl and FaithSummers for comments and suggestions!!!

So last night I decided to get up today and break B outta school early. I found a vampire nest in an old warehouse that we can hit during the daylight hours. Yea, I got it all planned out. Hit the nest, grab something to eat, then dance the night away at the Bronze. It'll be the perfect slay date. If I have my way it'll be the first of many.

I roll up to the school and remember that Buff would be in chemistry class right about now. Check me out with knowing a class schedule. Of course its B's schedule and that's why I know it. If was mine I'd need a map, a seeing eye dog and a tour guide to keep it. So I cruise around the back of the school and scope out a few windows. There she is. Buffy's sitting at one of those lab table type desks. She's talking away at a mile a minute to Willow and Xander, but it looks like they're not really interested. Hmmn. This could be good for me. A little separation from the tagalong two would do B some good.

I give a little tap on the window to get her attention and when she turns around, her like whole face lights up as she smiles at me. I swear my heart stops dead in my chest for a minute. Before I realize what I'm doing, I fog up the window with my breath and I'm drawing a heart on the glass. Oh shit, before I finish it with B+F I recover enough to draw a stake through it. I look up at her through the window and give her a little smile, complete with dimples. Man, she came off her chair like it was on fire. She was through the window and by my side so quick, Xander and Willow didn't even have a chance to change her mind. Go team Faith.

As we came up to the warehouse, we could feel the vamps inside. The feeling low in my stomach added to the electric shocks running through me cause of Buffy being so close, was really jazzing me up. I felt like I could take on anything and win. I haven't felt this good since I first became a slayer, when the power first poured through me and lit up all my senses.

I gave Buffy a look and she was lookin back at me, with that light in her eyes and a smile on her face. Then we turned as one and kicked the door in. It flew all the way to the back wall, knockin vamps down as it went.

The sun streaming in through the door started lighting the vamps unfortunate enough to be caught in it on fire. The rest scrambled back into the shadows as fast as their preternatural speed would allow them. They were practically climbing over each other to get outta the way. As soon as they calmed down enough to realize what happen, they noticed us in the doorway. All of a sudden their relief at getting outta the sunlight evaporated as they realized that they were so much worse off. Instead of a quick, but painful, death by sunlight, they now had to face a long and painful death by Slayer.

We sprang into the warehouse, practically mimicking each other's moves. They never had a chance. Buffy led off with a spinning roundhouse kick that plastered her first vamp up against the concrete wall. She was on him and had him staked just as he rebounded off towards her. I took a moment to watch as she finished her attack then got down to business myself. A vamp had tried to come up behind me as I stood admiring my sister slayer and hadn't counted on my keen sense of hearing to notice him. I reached back with a twist of my arm and he was dust in the wind. I turned back towards the middle of the room and just let the slayer out. It was like a tornado of fists, feet, and stakes as Buffy and I blew through the rest of the nest that had the misfortune to hole up in this place. Fifteen minutes after the door was kicked in it was over. Nothing but puffs of dust left floating around and two very hungry slayers standing among them smiling.

We decided to get cleaned up then meet later for a celebratory night at the Bronze. I went back to my shitty motel room and grabbed a quick shower and changed. B headed back to the school to get cleaned up. She always kept a change of clothes in her gym locker for after emergency slayage. I had a few hours to kill while Buffy pretended to come home from school before she could get ready, so I hung out and watched some TV.

Around 6 pm I thought it would be safe to head over to the Summer's house and pick up Buffy for our night out. I figured we could stop by a fast food joint and grab something to eat then cruise by a cemetery or two before we went to the club.

Later that night, we went dancing at the Bronze and let me tell you, we were HOT. B started cutting loose like I had never seen her. She was dancing with me and up against me, every time some guy would try to get between us, she would just move him outta the way until it was just us again. Man, I was having a great time. Good music, my favorite hot little blonde, and dancing my ass off. Could life get any better? Nah, it couldn't but it could get worse.

We had been dancing for a while when Buffy looks over and sees that Willow, Xander and Cordelia had showed up. Right away I could sense the change in her. She backed off a little from being so close to me and at the first break in the music, she left to go join them. She barely even looked back to see if I was following her.

I stood still for a minute then figured 'what the hell' and followed her over to their table. They were all like, "Hi Faith, we didn't expect you to be here." I guess Buffy didn't bother to tell them of our plans. I don't know why it happened, maybe I just couldn't stand for anyone else to have Buffy's attention. I mean, this was supposed to be our night. At least that's how I saw it.

So when the Scoob's started blabbing away about school and stuff, I started getting really sarcastic with my comments. It didn't take long for an uncomfortable silence to wrap itself around the table. Buffy was looking at me like she had never seen me before and I could see the hurt in her eyes. After all, these were her friends and she wanted me to like them.

Well,I couldn't take it anymore. I had had enough of their stupid looks and whispered comments. So I left. Grabbed my jacket and just high tailed it outta there without even giving B a second glance. I'm still regretting the way I stormed off. I was being an ass and I know that now, but at the time I didn't think I cared. I figured there would always be time for me to make it up to B. You know, win her over again with my blazing smile and quick wit. I'm such a dumbass sometimes. I should of known better. When in my life had anything gone the way I wanted it to? I should of remembered her late night solo patrols, the look in her eyes that said she had enough and didn't want to do this anymore. I should of known that a few weeks with a partner to patrol with wouldn't be enough to keep her here.


	4. Chapter 4

A/N: So, it doesn't look like the picture links are working here. If you're interested, send me an email and I'll send the link back to you. Not every chapter has a pic to go with it.

Chapter 4: Searching for a Slayer

Disclaimer: I do not own any of the recognizable characters contained within.

That would be Joss Whedon, Mutant Enemy, etc….

Weird Dreams

That night when I walked out on Buffy was the last half decent night's sleep I've had, even though it was broken up by half remembered dreams. There was one where Buffy came to my room and she was all decked out in a red leather one piece teddy. Man, did she look hot. Then it started getting strange. She accused me of leaving her and said something about letting them get her. Next thing I know her face is morphing and she's a vamp. I'll tell ya, I still get wigged out just thinking about it.

The next day I went to the school library to try and find Buffy and make it up to her for being the ass I was last night. As I blew through the library doors Willow and Xander's heads both shot up, then Giles came practically running out of his office. I looked at each of them and said, "Hey guy's, what's up?"

The slayeretts just sat back down and Giles asked if I had seen Buffy. I told him no, not since last night at the Bronze and he got a really weird look on his face. I started to get a bad feeling about the way they were acting and started asking my own questions.

I started in slow, "Why, didn't she show up at school today?"

"No, I'm afraid she didn't." Giles responded. "In fact she didn't make it home last night after she left the Bronze."

Willow added, "Mrs. Summers called my house this morning to see if she slept over."

"What and what?" was all I could say.

"It seems the Buffster went missing sometime last night and no one knows where she is." Xander said in a low voice.

Okay, now I was getting pissed off. "What, Buffy disappears and no one thought to get me to help look for her? While we're at it, why are you all just hanging around here. We should be out searching for her. What if she got hurt, or knocked out last night and she's laying somewhere bleeding or with amnesia or something?"

"I should think Buffy is capable of taking care of herself, Faith" Giles said while cleaning his glasses. "After all she has been a slayer for quite some time."

Man, I coulda slugged him right there and then. No shit Buffy can take care of herself. I mean, that's like not even the point. The point is you don't just leave someone you care about hanging out in the wind. Ya gotta have their back, you know? Instead of hitting him I said, "Look, oh wise and watcherly, everyone can have a bad night, right? You don't _know_ that some vamp didn't get a lucky shot in before B dusted him. You don't _know_ that she isn't hurt. If her mom is calling Willow at the crack of dawn _I_ would think it important enough to at least try looking for her."

Giles started looking all embarrassed and turning to Xander and Willow said "You two better get to class. Faith and I will start looking for Buffy and will let you know when we find her." Facing me again he said, "If that is alright with you, Faith?"

"Hell yea." I said, "Let's get motoring."

We had been to half a dozen places when Giles pulled his old beat-down car up in front of what looked like an abandoned clinic of some kind.

"What's this place?" I asked in my ever so charming way.

Giles went into immediate lecture mode. "This used to be Sunnydale West Medical Center. It was closed down five or so years ago when the population was still dropping off and they needed more morgues than hospitals. There has been some talk of opening it up again since the mortality rate around here has been in decline lately, thanks to Buffy moving here."

I told ya my girl was something special didn't I. All with the making the town safe for the norms. We go up to the front doors to give them a rattle and catch a glimpse of the dust coated interior. As Giles starts to back away I notice scuff marks in the dust on the floor. Scuff marks that look a lot like footprints. Someone has been shuffling around inside there and not all that long ago.

"Giles," I said while nodding my head towards the footprints. "I think we need to find another way in."

Giles gets this grim look on his face and says, "Quite."

We headed around back to look for an out of the way spot to break in. When we get there, one of the side emergency doors is torn of its hinges and just sorta leaning in the door frame. Looked to me like somebody wanted an easy way in and out in a hurry.

As we moved the door to the side and slipped through, I started getting those slayer beware tingles in my stomach. I whispered, "Giles, my vamp alert is starting to go off. Ya got any weapons in that heap of yours?"

"That heap as you call it is a very serviceable vehicle and yes, I always keep a few swords and such on hand for emergencies." He replied.

Ya know, I think I hurt his feelings with my heap comment. Tough shit. He'll get over it. He's lucky that's all I hurt, what with him and the Scoob's not even looking for B until I dragged them out of the library.

I stand guard at the doorway while Giles jogs back to his car for some weapons. He's soon coming back with a sword in his hand and passes me a small crossbow. I give him a look like, 'Why do you get the sword?' and he does a coupla quick parry and thrusts. I gotta admit he's actually pretty good with the thing, so I shrug my shoulders and nod at him. We start moving inside the school and those slayer tingles are getting worse.

As we slowly made our way down the first floor corridor, we could see that the footprints were all over the place. This must be a regular haunt for vamps. Just what I need to get rid of the tension I'm feeling since B went missing. A nice big vamp nest. I start to smile at the thought of the slice and dice fest that I was about to enjoy.

I'm not really paying as much attention as I should be to what's going on around me and suddenly I hear the swoosh-poof of a vamp being beheaded and dusted. I look over and there's Giles standing in a pile of dust shaking his head at me.

"Faith, would you mind staying a little more alert while we're in here? You can feel free to wander around with your head in a cloud as soon as we're done, but I need you to concentrate on the here and now in case there are more of these vampires around," he said to me with a barely there teasing tone to his voice. It's a good thing he had that tone too, or I woulda had to come back at him with some sarcastic comment about aging Watchers and their short swords.

Instead I just shoot back at him, "Yea, right, gothcha. Keep my head in the game so I can keep my head." Then I flash him the dimples before going into full slayer mode. I let my senses stretch out until I can feel every shift in the air, hear every scratch of a rats claw on the floors above us. I'm standing there concentrating when all of a sudden it feels like I'm jabbed with a cattle prod. Never mind how I know what that feels like. It's my connection with Buffy I'm feeling. "Giles," I almost shout, "She's here somewhere, I can feel her. But something's wrong. Our connection feels…. different."

"Different how?" he asks quietly as he moves closer to me.

"I don't know. It feels sorta like the feeling I get whenever there are vamps around, but more intense." Now I'm whispering too. I'm also starting to get a little freaked out. Screw this. B is in here somewhere and I'm gonna find her and get her outta here before some big bad shows up. "Come on" I say to Giles, "let's find our girl and get gone."

As we move up to the second floor, Giles indicates that he'll start searching on one end and I should start at the other. We can meet back in the middle before moving onto the next floor. I agree, I'd rather search on my own, cause I can cover more distance faster that way. In the first room I come to, there is a couple of vamps just finishing lunch. It looks like some homeless guy wandered in here to rest and ended up with the eternal kind. I slid into the room and had one of them dusted while the other one was still trying to stand up. I threw an uppercut followed with an elbow jab to his chin that had him flying across the room and into a wall. As he pulled himself out of the hole he made, I came at him with a front kick to his chest and heard the satisfying sound of ribs breaking. He doubled over in pain so I gave him a knee to the nose and followed up with a ridge hand to his throat when he straightened up. Now that he was softened up I figured I could try and get some information outta him. Grabbing him by his shirt front I slammed him into the wall a couple of times real quick and shouted in his face, "Where the hell is she?" He started to stammer out that he didn't know what I was talking about. He and his buddy were just trying to kill time until nightfall.

I hit him with a right cross then backhanded him so hard his head bounced off the wall. I shook him until his head was flopping around like his neck was broken. "All right, all right," he screamed out. "We were told to keep an eye out in case anyone came looking, but that we couldn't kill them. She's down the hall. We didn't touch her I swear." As the last word left his mouth I jammed my stake so far into his chest it pinned him to the wall for a moment before he dusted away.

As I turned around to leave I felt my vamp senses spike up and I caught a flicker of movement out of the corner of my eye. I raised my crossbow and fired off a shot before I even realized what I was aiming at. As the bolt left the crossbow, flying across the room, I saw Buffy standing there. She reached out and caught the arrow in the air about two inches from her chest. Christ, I nearly had a heart attack. I coulda sworn I killed her. I almost fell to my knees right there with the relief I felt that she was able to stop the arrow from hitting her.

She just looked over at me and smiled. She actually smiled. I woulda expected her to start a rant about how careless I was and it not being bad enough that the vamps and demons are trying to kill her, now I had to get into the act too. Instead she cocks her head to the side a little bit and says, "Gotta work on your form Faith, I could see that move from a mile away."

I started moving towards her saying, "Jesus B, where the hell were you all night. How come you never went home? Your mom is freaking out and the Scoob's didn't know what happened to you."

Then she starts doing a funny thing. As I'm moving towards her, she's kinda drifting backwards a little deeper into the shadows. That's when I notice that my vamp alarms are still going off. And that strange slayer feeling is coming offa her in waves. It's making every hair on my body stand on end and I can feel my muscles all tightening up getting ready for more action. "B," I said real low, "What happened to you last night?"

She gives me that little smile again and says softly, "I finally got set free, Faith." With that she morphed into full vamp face.


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5: First Temptation

Disclaimer: I do not own any of the recognizable characters contained within.

That would be Joss Whedon, Mutant Enemy, etc….

After Buffy vamped out on me she didn't move. She didn't make any kinda threat or attack towards me at all. She just kinda stood there looking at me like she was waiting for something. Maybe she was waiting for me to attack her first, but I was too blown away by what just happened to do anything more than stand there and try to breath.

Finally Buffy says, "Faith, I'm gonna move back out into the hall where there's a little less sunlight. Will you come and talk with me?"

I look around and notice the band of sunlight that was able to filter in around the ripped up curtains those vamps had put up at the windows. There was actually a beam of sunlight separating Buffy from me. Maybe that's why she hadn't made a move towards me, but for some reason I didn't think so.

"Giles," I said, my brain just starting to work again. "Giles is here with me, we can't let him see you like this. It would kill him." Buffy nodded her head and kept moving into the hall.

"Don't worry. I could smell him from the time he entered the building. If he starts to get too close I'll let you know and I'll leave. That is assuming your gonna let me go and not try to like, turn me into a shish kabob or something." She laughed, "As if you could".

Now that just pissed me off. I guess it's a good thing that she started in with the jabs at my slayer skills. It actually helped me to focus more on what was going on and get over the shock that Buffy was now a vampire. "Don't worry babe," I said, I' haven't met a blood sucking demon yet that I couldn't take down when I tried." She got a look in her eyes at the 'blood sucking demon' comment that made my stomach do a little flip. It almost seemed like I hurt her feelings or something. This was getting too weird for words.

As we stood in the hallway I looked her over for the first time. I mean, really looked her over. She was wearing the blue and white tank top she had on last night with her tight black pants. She looked like the same old Buffy, hot as ever. That is if you could ignore the ridges on her forehead and the fangs in her mouth. Her hair was pulled back and clipped at the sides so it hung straight down her back. Leaving her face clear and easy to see. It's strange, but the longer I stood there looking at her, the less bizarre it seemed to see her in vamp face. As the time slowly passed it was easy to forget that she was dead, that something killed her last night and left this thing in her body. A demon that was just using her memories and personality since it had none of its own. That thought, my friends, is what finally got me back in the game. I shook my head to clear it and tried to start acting like the slayer I was supposed to be.

I stared right at her, it, whatever, and said, "Okay B….Buffy, we're in the hall, you're all comfy, cozy, now let's hear it."

"What do you wanna know, Faith?" she asked all innocent like.

"You know damn well what I want to know. First off what happened to you last night? How the hell was some vamp not only able to get you, but to turn you?" I growled at her.

"Well, after you stormed outta the Bronze, which, by the way, was way rude of you…. I thought you wanted to spend some time with me?" she said lookin up at me through her eyelashes. What the hell? Was B trying to flirt with me? Never mind, I needed to keep my mind on business.

"I did", I snapped back, "but you seemed to want to be with the Scoob's, so I bailed. Big deal. Get on with the splaining."

"Anyhow," she continued, "I went after you when you left, but you had already moved away from the club. I looked around a little for you and then decided to do a quick patrol when I couldn't find you. I was pretty pissed at the way you were acting and was itching to take it out on some unsuspecting vamps. Well, I was walking through the cemetery down the road from here when my spidey sense started tingling. I crept up to this huge crypt and found four vamps lounging around. Perfect, I thought, just what I needed to take the edge off before I went home and went to sleep. So I jump em, dusted two at once with that double fist backhand move you love so much and was circling the other two, moving in to finish them off. One of them gives a quick glance over my shoulder and I fall for it like a newbie. I turned slightly to look where he glanced and the both of them tackle me at the same time. We're on the ground rolling around with one of them on each of my arms, when outta the crypt comes three more vamps. One of them a Master. The two new comers grab my legs and try to play tug of war. Now I know I'm screwed. They've got a death grip on all my limbs and I can't do more than wiggle my toes and fingers. The Master vamp leans down in my face and doesn't even bother to say anything. He just sinks his fangs into my neck and starts sucking away."

As I listened, I tried not to let the pain from what I was hearing show on my face. I stood watching Buffy, never letting my eyes wander as she continued her story.

"You know, as I started to fade out my one feeling was relief. It was finally over for me. No more fighting the bad guys. No more worrying that my mom, or Xander or Willow or Giles would end up dead cause I wasn't fast enough, or good enough to stop some demon from killing them. Faith, you don't know what it was like. I was almost happy that it was ending. Almost.

"Then my last thought was of you, Faith. How you would be the one to fight now. How you would have to keep everyone safe and that you would have to do it alone. That's when I finally got scared. Not of dying, it's what I'd been kinda looking for for awhile now. But I was scared for you. You would be all alone. The Scoob's would resent you for not being me. My mom would resent that I died and you didn't. It just didn't seem fair to me. Then all that was left was darkness. Soon, I felt something wet at my lips and I was incredibly thirsty."

"I thought 'I shouldn't be thirsty, I should be dead, shouldn't I?' But the taste was like nothing I ever had before. It was sweet and thick and warm and I could feel it moving throughout my whole body. Every nerve, every cell was coming alive like never before. All I could do was bite and suck trying to get more of that nectar of the gods into me. Then I felt a hand roughly push me away."

Christ, I thought, that has to be every slayers nightmare. We expect to die eventually fighting evil and all, but to be turned. To become what we fight. There's no way I could even imagine what B was going through. There was nothing I could do for her now, all I could do was hear her out.

"I slowly opened my eyes and what I saw had me dazed for a moment. " Buffy continued, "There were no lights on, but I could still see perfectly. Every shape's outline, every speck of dust as it floated through the air. And the sounds Faith, you cannot believe the sounds. You think that slayer hearing is good? It doesn't even compare to this. I can hear a heartbeat from across the building. Not only that but I could tell you what the heartbeat belongs to. Human, animal, bird, it's all there in the heartbeat, whispering their secrets to me."

"Anyway, after I got over my amazement, I looked over at the vamp that turned me. My Sire was sitting there holding his wrist and looking like I almost drained him dry. As I realized what happened to me I felt the Slayer in me start to rise up. I mean, I could feel the demon in me, but the slayer was still there too. She was fighting the demon for control and winning. I wasn't just a blood crazed demon. I had control. I could choose. And in that moment I chose to slay my sire and every other vamp that had a hand in turning me."

"He was still looking at me and said, 'You just about took every last drop. I thought you would have been weaker after being turned, Slayer.' I sprang at him and said, 'Glad I could make it interesting for you.' I grabbed a chair from the floor, smashing it over his head. As it splintered I snatched a leg outta the air and slammed it through his heart. His dust was still swirling through the air as the other vamps from his clan came through the door to see what the racket was. I was on them in a blur. Faith, I don't know if it's because I was a slayer before I was turned or if it's something else, but I was moving faster than the eye could see. The four of them were dusted before they even got halfway into the room. I couldn't believe how easy it was. There is no way that other vampires are like this. Compared to what I can do they're all like, stuck in slow motion."

"So that brings us to here. I left the crypt and made my way to this old hospital to try and figure out what I'm gonna do. There were a few lesser vamps here that I told to stand guard. I mean, I can't go home. Mom would freak. Willow and Xander wouldn't understand. Giles would probably send me to the Council, if he didn't just stake me thinking that he was freeing my soul or something. And you Faith, what about you. I don't want to leave you to fight alone. There are too many ways that something could kill you. So what I decided is that I want you to come with me. You could join me and we would fight the demons together, forever, side by side like it should always be. You don't have to decide right now Faith, but it sounds like Giles is making his way over here."

I was standing there with my back up against the wall trying to take in everything she had told me. Was it the truth? Was it a lie? Was it some combination of both? I just didn't know and everything was happening too quickly for me to be sure what I needed to do. "Buffy," I said "you better get going before Giles sees you. I need to think about what you told me. Ya know, try and sort through some stuff." I could hear Giles now, it sounded like he was ready to come through the door on my right. "Buffy, you need to leave, now!" I whispered harshly.

I could see Giles' shadow coming closer to the doorway. I glanced at Buffy then back to the doorway. I heard Buffy say, "Okay, I'm leaving, but Faith I really do want you to come with me. Just think, an eternity………..together. Let me know if you change your mind."

As Giles came through the doorway I looked back to where Buffy had been standing, only to find her gone. There was no trace, no stirring of wind, nothing to indicate she had ever been there. Nothing except the tingling in the pit of my stomach and the pain in my heart.

First Temptation


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6: Heading Back

Disclaimer: I do not own any of the recognizable characters contained within.

That would be Joss Whedon, Mutant Enemy, etc….

Giles looked up at me as he came through the doorway. "Find anything yet Faith? Any sign of Buffy?" he asked.

I just stood there, still kinda dazed from talking with B. I managed to pull myself together a little, enough to answer him anyway. "Nah, just a coupla vamps that were having a late lunch, Giles. Some homeless guy wandered into the wrong place at the wrong time. The vamps are history but the guy was already dead."

"Oh, I say," he responded, "and what about Buffy? Are you still sure she is here?"

At him mentioning Buffy I almost jumped outta my skin and practically screamed at him, "NO…., I mean, no I haven't found a sign of her. I don't really think she was here. It must've just been all the vamps hanging out that threw off my slayer sense."

I still couldn't believe he didn't see her himself when he was coming outta that room. She wasn't kidding when she said she was faster than any vampire or demon we had come up against. She was quiet as death too. Oh shit, I almost start laughing at that thought. I had to bite the inside of my mouth hard to keep it from getting out. I knew if I started laughing it would soon turn hysterical and I would laugh till I cried. There would be time for that later once I was alone. For now though, I had to get Giles the hell outta here and then find some way to ditch him. I had too much on my mind to have to deal with a worried Watcher and the Scooby peanut gallery.

"Come on G, let's get going. There doesn't seem to be anything else here and we need to find someplace else to look for B," I said as I started walking back towards the stairs. I just kept thinking, 'I have to get him out of here, I have to get him out of here'. Giles cooperated by falling into step beside me. He seemed like he was about to put a hand on my shoulder, maybe as a reassuring gesture, but thought better of it at the last minute and reached up to remove his glasses instead.

He wiped his forehead with the back of his hand and started speaking again as he returned his glasses to their proper spot. "Faith, I know it has been disheartening today, not finding any trace of Buffy, but I am sure that she can well take care of herself and is in all probability at home right now desperately searching through the latest shoe catalog for a new pair of pumps. I am sure that when we return to the library we will find that all is well and Buffy was simply too tired to return home last night. Maybe she stayed the night at Angel's mansion. I believe that she goes there sometimes when she is feeling depressed and alone."

"Yeah, that's all well and good Giles, except we already checked the mansion and there was no sign of her." I replied.

Giles turned to me and said, "Be that as it may, she may have stayed there last night and left early this morning. Either way, there is no use in our wandering around aimlessly throughout the town. I suggest we go back to the library and see if Willow can manage to perform a location spell to find her. That is, of course, if Buffy isn't already sitting there getting a huge laugh out of our running around trying to rescue her. You know she hates to be rescued," he finished with a small smile.

I really wanted to just blow off the whole 'going back to the library and hang' thing, but Giles had me a little worried when he mentioned having Red do a location spell. Willow had been getting more and more into the Wicca Way and was starting to show some real power. It would not be a good idea for her to do a location spell and have the Scoob's walk in on Buffy while she was enjoying her new liquid diet. So I decided that the better part of valor was to stick around and keep everyone from finding out what really happened to her. I had no idea when or if I would eventually tell them, but I knew right now was absolutely the worst time. We stepped outside and started over to Giles' car in the early setting sun. As he climbed in behind the driver's wheel, I chanced a look up at the hospital windows and could have sworn I saw the curtains twitch just a little. I closed my eyes and stretched out my senses again and sure enough I could feel her. She was up there right now watching me, wondering what I would do. Ya know what? I'm wondering what I'm gonna do too.


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 7: Where is She?

Disclaimer: I do not own any of the recognizable characters contained within.

That would be Joss Whedon, Mutant Enemy, etc….

Back at Scooby central, Xander and Willow were sitting at the library table just waiting for some word from us. As soon as we hit the door Red started in with major babble overload. Damn if that girl couldn't move her jaws. "Giles, Faith, great your back. Where's Buffy? Did you find her? Where did you look? Did you try the mansion? You know she goes there sometimes. Have you talked to Mrs., Summers? Someone should talk to Mrs. Summers. She's at the house all alone with no one to talk to."

Finally Xander stood up and put his hand over Red's mouth. First, it got her to shut up for like two minutes and secondly, it reminded her that yes she did need to breath from time to looked over at us and said, "Okay guys, whenever you're ready we would be willing to hear anything you've got to say on the whole 'Slayer missing in action' scenario. Meanwhile, we will try and sit down and calmly wait for you to start, right Will?" Red started nodding her head a mile a minute and Xander slowly pulled his hand away from her mouth. Then he wiped it on his pants saying, "Ewww Will, drool much?" That little comment earned him an elbow to his ribs from Red, way to go girl.

"If you are all quite finished," Giles began as he walked over to them. "As it turns out we did not find Buffy. We did check everywhere we could think of that she might have ended up, including Angel's old mansion. No, we haven't spoken to Mrs. Summers as of yet, but I believe that it is time we do so. We were actually hoping that Buffy would have returned here by now. Also, Willow, I was hoping you might perchance be able to perform a location spell to find her. It would make it easier if we could narrow down the area we must search a bit."

"I could so do that," Red practically squealed. "I have everything I'll need in my locker and it shouldn't take very long. I'll go get the stuff now. Xander, can you get me that big map of Sunnydale Giles keeps in his office?"

"Yea Wills, I'm on it," Xander threw over his shoulder a he moved towards Giles' office.

I was sorta standing there, watching all the enthusiasm the Scoob's were showing at having a plan of action. Thinking to myself how devastated they were gonna be if and when they found out the truth. I'll tell ya, I was actually a little scared of what their reaction was gonna be. I mean like I said, Red was getting wicked good at the mojo stuff and I was half wondering if she would go off the deep end and try to bring Buffy back or something. You know, I think I'm kinda hoping she does. Nah, on second thought almost every time she tries some strong spell something goes wrong. What if instead of bringing B back, she turns her into like a zombie or something? I'll definitely have to stop her from trying anything like that. B being a vampire is bad enough, I don't wanna see her as a walking mindless corpse.

Xander was a different matter. I know he's had a crush on B ever since she first came to town. I think he would actually consider just letting her bite him hoping she would turn him into one of her minions. Damn. I wish I hadn't thought of that. Now I'll have to keep an eye on him too, make sure he doesn't go and do something stupid. Man, there is only one of me and like three of them. How am I supposed to keep them all alive and safe while trying to figure out what to do with B?

I went over to the counter top and hopped up just to get off my feet for awhile. Giles was still standing by the table where Xander had laid out the Sunnydale map. They were busy putting stuff on the corners to keep it spread out for when Red came back. With nothing else to do, my traitorous mind drifted back to the conversation me and B had in the hallway. A coupla things she said kept popping out. Like when she said that she could still feel the Slayer inside her. What would that be like? Is it a never ending battle between the slayer and the demon trying to take control of her? Does she keep getting the urge to stake herself? Freaky. Another thing, the slayer protects the innocent right? What does she do for blood? I mean, yea she could always feed without taking a life, but, wouldn't the demon demand draining someone dry occasionally? Christ, I hope not. I had seen how quick and silent she could be and I really didn't want to have to go up against her if she decided to go on a rampage. Sure, I would still do it, it's my job after all, but still I can guarantee it wouldn't be any kind of picnic.

These questions led me to the next one, would I really be able to hunt Buffy down and stake her if I had to? That's the big one. The million dollar, it's anyone's guess question. It wasn't that long ago I realized that I loved her. Shit, I was actually on my way to try and get her to love me back when I found out she was missing. How could I possibly track her down and put a piece of wood through her heart? Or cut off her head and watch as she turned to dust and blew away, gone forever? Christ, I am so screwed.

Just then the doors banged open and in comes Red with a bunch of ingredients she needed for the location spell in her arms. Talk about being saved by the bell, my brain was about to go into overload with all the crap that's running through it. I jump down off the counter and go over to give Red a hand laying out her stuff.

I can tell Giles is a little anxious as he asks Willow, "Do you have everything you'll need? I have some spare supplies in back that you are welcome to use."

Red gets a little frown on her face, but replies, "No, I think I have all I need. This should only take a few minutes to set up. When the spell is done there should be a little glowy thing on the map where Buffy is. Then we just take a road trip and pick her up." She finished with a smile, "Easy as cake."

Me and Xander both stepped back some to give Wicca girl room to work. Giles stood right by her side in case she needed any help. Red started mixing herbs and stuff in a little ceramic bowl she had in front of her and then lit some incense. She closed her eyes for a minute and started muttering in some foreign language. It could have been Latin but all foreign languages are Greek to me. Soon the stuff in the ceramic bowl started smoking. The smoke rose up about two feet and started to spread out over the map on the table. It sorta drifted around from one end to the other and then started to pull in on itself. It drew down tighter and tighter until it was only a small ball about a quarter inch wide hovering over the center of the map. Then the ball of smoke started changing colors real fast. Grey to blue to yellow to green to red over and over. I heard Willow give out a little gasp of surprise and I thought, 'here we go. Something is about to go seriously wrong with her spell.' I reached over and grabbed Xander by the arm and pulled him back another coupla steps from the table with me. It's never a good idea to be too close when one of Red's spells starts doing stuff she didn't expect. I figured her and Giles could take care of themselves since they were the ones doing the mojo.

The smoke ball turned a blinding white and slammed down on the map. Where it landed was a black scorched mark. Xander and me slowly came back up to the table's edge and looked down to where the mark was. Red had started crying and I didn't know why. Giles was standing there with his mouth hanging slightly open. He looked like he was just hit in the head with a rubber mallet. Everyone stared at the map, seeing the scorch mark was over top of a cemetery, but only I knew that it was the cemetery where B had been turned.

Xander was the first to speak, "So, the Buffster is at the Restview Cemetery? Why would she be there without telling us?"

Giles started to recover some composure and said in a strained voice, "No, Xander. That's not where Buffy is, it's where she died." Then he was unable to say anything else.

Xander's eyes got all large and he turned to Willow, "Will? What's Giles talking about? That's not possible is it?"

Willow hugged Xander and through her tears said, "The smoke ball should have settled into a single color, one representing Buffy's life force and then floated to wherever she was on the map. Instead, it flashed all the colors showing it couldn't lock onto her. Then it crashed into the last spot she was alive and burned it. She's dead Xander, Buffy's dead."

Willow broke down completely and Xander held her with tears in his own eyes. Giles was still standing there in shock. Me? I stood there already knowing what happened to Buffy. Knowing it was worse than they thought, knowing it was much worse.


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter 8: A Long Night Alone

Disclaimer: I do not own any of the recognizable characters contained within.

That would be Joss Whedon, Mutant Enemy, etc….

After awhile Giles and the Scoob's pulled themselves together enough to talk about what we needed to do. Can they really be called the Scooby's anymore? How can you have a gang without a leader? No one is ever gonna take Buffy's place for them, so I'm guessing the whole Scooby gang thing is history. Where was I? Oh yea. The first thing was someone had to tell Mrs. Summers what we found out. And Hell NO, it was not gonna be me. I didn't even wanna be on the same block when she found out. I thought it would be better if I gave her like a year or two after she found out her baby was dead, before I would even think of going to see her. Like I said, she would probably blame me for Buffy getting killed, for not being there to protect her and to tell ya the truth, I feel that way myself. I should have been there with her. I shouldn't of stormed off in a jealous rage when she wanted to hang with her friends. I shoulda taken her feelings into consideration. If I had, even just a little bit, I could of toughed the night out and walked Buffy home and she never woulda been caught alone like that.

Anyway, Giles manned up and said he would go over and tell Mrs. Summers what we suspected. He would stay there with her while she called the cops to report her only daughter missing. Knowing the SunnyD cops they would only do a cursory check of the area, then file Buffy as a missing person and forget about it. After all, Sunnydale has more people go missing per year than any other US city. At least it did until B came to town and put the smack down on the local Hellmouth denizens. I volunteered to go to Restview and look around for anything that might be there. Like Buffy's body I didn't say, but they all knew what was meant. I knew I wouldn't find her body, it was still walking around, but I wanted to make sure nobody else would find evidence that B wasn't quite as dead as they thought. I thought it would be kinder to let them think she had died in some battle than to know she had been turned and was out there somewhere. Imagine that, me trying to be kind to the Scooby gang. Why didn't I do that last night and save us all a lot of heartache? Like I said, sometimes I'm such a dumbass.

Giles headed out to Mrs. Summers house with Willow and Xander along for moral support. Xander had volunteered to go with me to Restview, but I wanted some alone time. He didn't push the issue which was a good thing. I was so not in the mood for anymore bullshit. When I got to the cemetery, I drifted along between the tombstones and mausoleums. Not really having any direction to go, I just took my time trying to feel where the vampire crypt was that B had told me about. Soon I found myself standing in front of a huge crypt, complete with marble columns and carved angels with wings spread. It was a pretty upscale place for a bunch of vamps to hang out. You know, all tourist attraction like.

The door was wrought iron inlaid oak, with one of those locks that look like they need the key to the city to open. I started feeling just a faint bit of a buzz. I wasn't sure if it was just left over from Buffy being there last night or if some other vamp had taken up residence. I reached out and let my hand rest on the door handle for a moment, steeling myself for whatever I would find once I went through the door. Pulling it open and stepping through, I found myself standing in a large room with four stone sarcophagus sitting on raised platforms. Looking around I saw the scuff marks across the floor that told the story of the fight that took place. I saw the broken chair in a corner and the chair leg left sitting in a large pile of dust just to the side of the door. I closed my eyes and could see the fight happening just as B had told me.

There she was waking up after being turned, the turmoil of being pushed away from her first taste of blood evident on her face. Her eyes opening and her determined look when she sprang at her Sire to dust him. The way she turned to the door and leapt like a ballet dancer to finish off the rest of the clan as they came through. Then I saw more. The look in her eyes as she realized she could never go home, never be with her friends again. The desolation she felt as she decided not to end herself, to continue with her existence such as it is.

I felt a tickle on my cheek and reached up to wipe away what I thought was a cobweb. My fingers came away wet. The wetness was from the tears that were running down my cheek without me even realizing it. Shaking my head to clear the visions I was having, I started looking around for any trace that Buffy had walked out of here on her own power. I left the busted chair as evidence that she fought back and didn't go down like a wimp. I cleaned up the corner where she had sat drinking the blood of her Sire. I smeared it around just enough to look like the result of a struggle, not a feast. While I did that I saw a small gold cross on a fine chain on the floor in the corner. I recognized it at once as the one B always wore, the one Angel had given her years ago. I picked it up and put it in my pocket. I could get Giles to give it to Buffy's mom later. She could at least have this small part of her daughter back.

Taking a last look around I was sure that no one would be able to tell what happened here. The story the crypt told was one of a fight fought hard, but lost. As to what happened to the body, I wasn't sure what to do about that. Then it came to me. I ran out of the crypt and down the road to a nearby house. Looking into the garage window I saw what I wanted sitting on a workbench. Breaking the window I hoisted myself in and grabbed the red gasoline can off the bench, feeling the slosh of liquid inside. I quickly left out the same window I came in by and went back to the crypt. I set the gas can down while I went over to one of the coffins and pulled the skeleton out. I placed it in the corner where I thought Buffy had woken up, and then splashed it with gasoline. I backed away while spreading the gas all around the room, making sure that everything in here would be well toasted. The candles that were placed around the crypt would melt down and give the cops a reason the fire started. They would probably think some kids came here to party and knocked the candles over starting the fire. This is Sunnydale after all, no one ever looks too closely into crimes at the cemeteries.

Standing at the door I took my Zippo from my pocket and flicked a flame into existence. I stood there for a moment mentally saying a little prayer for Buffy, sorta a last goodbye. I could feel the tears leaking outta my eyes again, but didn't bother to wipe them away this time. I felt Buffy deserved some tears from me, from all of us. Throwing my lighter into the middle of the room, I stepped back and watched as the flames quickly spread all around. The smoke started pouring out of the open doorway and you could hear the roaring of the flames growing each moment. I turned to leave and glanced over my shoulder once, goodbye Buffy, I love you, but I'm sure gonna miss my Zippo.


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter 9: Second Temptation

Disclaimer: I do not own any of the recognizable characters contained within.

That would be Joss Whedon, Mutant Enemy, etc….

Thanks again to FaithLehane (faithsummers) and Jinxgirl for previewing and comments

After I left Restview Cemetery, I made my way slowly back to my shitty little motel room. I coulda went looking for Giles and the gang, but thought they would still be with Mrs. S. At least I hoped they were. She shouldn't be left alone at a time like this. None of us should really be alone right now. Unlocking my door I dropped the keys on the tabletop and went over to sit on the ratty bed to take off my boots. My feet were killing me and I was so tired I felt I could sleep for a week. Slayer stamina is all good, but it doesn't really help out when most of your fatigue is from mental stress and duress. The insides of my head felt like they were ran through a blender on whip setting. The thoughts just wouldn't stop running around and around making me crazier by the moment. Good thing I knew just what to do when I needed to completely stop thinking, huh.

I reached under the bed and brought out my trusty bottle of JD. Yea, me an Jack go way back as a cure for being too caught up in my own thoughts. I spun the top off and threw it in the trash, I wouldn't be needin it again. Taking a look at the half full bottle I brought it to my lips and tilted my head back letting the golden fire race down my throat. The whiskey hit my stomach and immediately started pouring its warmth throughout my entire body. I could feel myself relaxing as I stopped chugging and felt the sharp rasp of that first indrawn breath. Man, that's more like it. I took another long swallow then laid back on the bed and stared at the water stained ceiling. I figured by know Giles had told Mrs. S about what they suspected, that Buffy had died while on a patrol. He would have stayed with her while she called the cops and reported her daughter missing. He probably would of even held her and comforted her.

I always kinda figured Giles had a thing for Buffy's mom, ya know? The looks he would toss her way when he thought no one was watching, she would do the same to him. It was almost like they had a secret that only the two of them knew. Holy shit, I thought springing upright on the bed, you don't think they had something goin on, do ya? Nah, there's no way Giles coulda hit that and not of had Buffy all up in his ass over it. Still, there seemed to be something there, oh well, whatever, not my problem. Just glad Mrs. S will have someone with her tonight to help her make it through.

I took another short pull on the JD and decided I had to take a leak, might as well make room for the rest of that bottle right now. Putting the bottle on the bedside table I climbed to my feet and went into the bathroom. Dropping my pants and sitting down, I thought that these small pleasures were the only things that made life worthwhile. Finishing up I stood at the sink and washed my hands, they still had a gasoline and smoke smell to them. That's alright, I'm gonna hit my JD a little more than grab a quick shower. The shower should allow me to finish off the whiskey before passing out and that should keep any dreams from screwing with me overnight. I'll worry about tomorrow tonight tomorrow.

As I stared into my eyes reflected in the cracked mirror over the sink, I noticed a familiar tingling growing in my stomach and not from the alcohol I had been drinking. "Shit" I said out loud. I turned and left the bathroom to find my room absolutely empty. I coulda sworn that my former fellow slayer was in here. I turned to go back over to the bed and felt a change in the air. Spinning back towards the door I found Buffy standing there just like I'd seen her so many times before. "Christ! What are you doing here B?" I gasped out as soon as I caught my breath.

She had that same little smile on her face. I guess catching me by surprise was her new favorite thing to do cause she morphed into vamp face. "Motel……I can come and go as I want. I figure I'll keep checking in every coupla days to see if you made up your mind yet," she said. I must be getting used to seeing her like that cause I recovered a lot faster than earlier today. "Suit yourself," I said. "I would think you'd have better things to do than to stalk me, like maybe finding a good place to live, or un-live as the case may be. That old hospital doesn't really seem to be your style, B." I walked back over to the bed and grabbed my bottle and took another long drink. I didn't think Buffy was there to hurt me, don't ask me how I knew, I just did. Maybe it was our slayer connection, maybe it was just _our_ connection, but whatever it was I was sure this meeting wouldn't end in a fight to the death. As I watched her watch me I held out the bottle, "Want some? Or doesn't this fit into your new liquids only diet?"

She shook her head a little and walked over to join me. Taking the bottle from my hand she tilted back her head and took a long pull straight from the bottle. "Not even gonna complain about not havin a glass?" I asked. "Being turned seems to have loosened you up some, little miss tight ass." She continued to look me in the eyes as she said, "Me being turned seems to have softened you up some, Faith. I saw what you did at the cemetery. You covered up my being changed into a vampire by burning the place down. Setting it up so my mom could have some peace of mind, that was really very sweet of you."

"Yea, well she deserves to not have to know about what really happened. She's gonna have enough to go through as it is, what with a funeral and no body and all." I said.

Moving a little closer Buffy said, "I think you did it as much for me as you did for her, no matter what you try and tell yourself. You made it possible for me to actually be free. No one will be looking for me now. I don't have to worry about Willow or Xander or Giles trying to track me down and stake me. I can go wherever I want for the first time ever. I can go with _whoever_ I want and I want to go with you."

I blinked at that moment and suddenly Buffy had me wrapped up in an iron grip. I was pressed so tight up against her you couldn't see any light between our bodies. She had her lips pressed onto mine and the tingles I always got from her were multiplied a million times. She felt cool to the touch, but I could feel her lips warming up from the heat in my own. My body started to respond before my mind could stop it. I leaned into her harder and could feel her smile as the ridges and fangs on her face faded away. I opened my eyes slightly and saw just Buffy, my B, standing there kissing me for all she was worth. She slowly licked my bottom lip then pushed her tongue in my mouth, swirling it over my teeth before dueling with my tongue. I couldn't stop myself, I moaned low in my throat. This is what I wanted, this is what I always wanted, to have Buffy with me, kissing me, loving me.

That thought snapped me out of my daze and I pushed her away. She could of stopped me, coulda kept me right where she had me without even breaking a sweat, but she didn't. She let me push her back and she willingly stepped away. She knew it would take time for me adjust. She hoped that I would adjust. The look in my eyes must of told her what I was thinking. This wasn't Buffy. This wasn't my B, the one I fell in love with. This was just her shell being possessed by either a demon or the Slayer, it was just an illusion.

"It's okay Faith," she said looking sadly at me. "I know you think I'm not really in here. I am. The demon didn't replace the me I was when I got turned. It just added to what I am. I think it's because of being a slayer. I've kept everything that I was, maybe even my soul. It'll take some time, I know, for you to understand. But believe me, I want you, I love you and I will never do anything to hurt you."

"B," I stammered out. "You need to go now. I need time to think about all this. It's too soon for me right now. I…I... can't think about this straight. Give me some time to get my head wrapped around this, what's happened to you, what it's gonna mean to me….please?"

She stepped closer taking something from her pocket and putting it in my hand. "Okay," she said. "I'll be around, you'll find me when you're ready. Goodbye for now." Then she left. She actually used the door, turned the handle and walked out like a normal human. After she left I looked down to see what she had put in my hand. Holding it up to the light, I was shocked to see that it was my lighter. The Zippo I used to set the crypt on fire, all cleaned up and looking brand new. I looked at the door and shook my head, I guess she didn't want the cops to find it and trace it back to me. Maybe she does love me.

Second Temptation


	10. Chapter 10

Chapter 10: Lots to Think about

Disclaimer: I do not own any of the recognizable characters contained within.

That would be Joss Whedon, Mutant Enemy, etc….

The next few days were a nightmare. Buffy's mom had made arrangements for the funeral after the cops were done investigating the fire at the crypt. They were actually blaming B, saying she was there partying, then got herself trapped when the candles fell over and started the fire. Of course, the fact that she had burned down the gym at her old school might have had something to do with how quick they were to lay the blame at her feet. They pretty much just assumed that the bones they found, or what was left of them, had belonged to Buffy and her pals. Yea, in Sunnydale the cops follow the armed forces rules, don't ask, don't tell. All that being said, it did make it easier for Mrs. S to go ahead and make all the arrangements for B's funeral that much quicker. She decided to have it during the day since Buff had spent so much time wandering around Sunnydale at night. I thought it was a good choice.

We all gathered at Buffy's house before the funeral, kinda huddling together, as if for warmth. Giles was stood next to Mrs. S to lend a supporting hand, Willow was clinging to Oz like her life depended on it and Xander had Cordelia by his side. I sorta hovered among all of them, feeling outta place. Like I didn't deserve to be there since I never told anyone the truth about what happened to B. I was glad I didn't though. One of the first things Mrs. S said to me when I showed up at the house this morning was how thankful she was that Buffy wasn't turned into "one of those horrible vampires you girls have to fight". Those were her exact words. Man, I felt about two feet tall when she said that, but what really floored me was what she said next. "Faith, I'm so glad that you weren't caught in that crypt with Buffy. It's bad enough losing my daughter without having lost you too." Then she reached up and cupped my cheek in her palm. I just about lost it right then and there. I had to make my way to the bathroom quick before I started balling my eyes out in front of everybody.

Once I had myself under control and we were getting ready to head to the funeral home, Mrs. S takes me aside again. I thought I was in for more heartche when instead she tells me, "Faith, I know you've been staying in that crappy motel room down by the bus station and I would feel so much better if you would move in here with me. This place is just too big for me to be here by myself and I know that Buffy would have wanted you to be safe. You don't have to answer me now, just know that the invitation is standing and you can take me up on it whenever you're ready." To say I was shocked is an understatement. Not only didn't Mrs. S blame me for what happened to her daughter, she actually wanted to protect me and give me a safe place to stay. What is it with these Summers women that they know exactly how to turn me into a pile of jello?

I said, "Thanks Mrs. S…."

She interrupted me, "Joyce, honey. Call me Joyce."

"Thanks, uh, Joyce," I continued, "But I don't want to intrude on you. You've got a lot goin on right now and don't need me around getting in the way."

She smiled at me and for the first time I saw where Buffy got her smile from. "Faith, honey, I'm not just doing this for you. I'm doing it for myself too. I need to know that you're okay. I need to help you anyway I can. I wasn't always there for B…Buffy after she told me about being a slayer. I can't help but think if I handled it better, or was more accepting, that things might have turned out different."

I jumped right to her defense. "No, there's no way anything you did led to what happened to Buffy. It was our calling, or destiny, or whatever. She was fighting evil and got caught in a fire. There was nothing anybody could of done to help." Man, did I feel like a shithead. After what this woman has been and is going through, I stand there and lie straight to her face. I know I only said it to make her feel better and a little less guilty, but I still felt like crap for lying to her. I figured I was feeling guilty enough for everyone. If a little white lie would help her cope, then I was more than happy to carry the guilt for her.

"Thank you Faith," she said. "That means a lot to me. Think about what I said though. I really do want you to stay with me, okay."

What could I do? "Sure Mrs…..., Joyce, I'll think about it. Thank you."

"All right dear," she said, "I supposed we should be going now. Help me call the others would you?"

The funeral itself was a trial of my resolve. The priest went on for a long time about what a ray of sunshine Buffy was to all who knew her. It seems that the priest had gotten to know B pretty good over the years. I always wondered how she kept her supply of holy water up, now I know. She just went in and had her buddy the pope give her a fresh supply. I had a feeling that he knew all about Slayers, vampires and the things that go bump in the night, by the way he kept looking over at me. I made a little mental note to ask Giles about him later on, see if maybe the G-man had a clue that Buffy was sharing secrets outside the Scooby circle. Not that I think he would of minded. Giles was very progressive where Buffy was concerned and anything that would have helped her in the fight was good to go with him.

Finally the ceremony was over and we each had our rose to go up and lay on the coffin. It's really weird to think that we were going through all this for a box that only held a couple of bones and some stuff we each had the funeral home put inside. They weren't even Buffy's bones. Oh, that's right, nobody knows that but me. Shit, this is gonna be much harder than I thought. Everyone else had left by now except for family. The family in this case was Giles, Xander, Willow, Mrs., uh, Joyce, and me. Oz and Cordelia had already moved off to the cars to give us a moment alone.

We each said a privet goodbye and then we laid our roses on the coffin one by one. We moved as a group to the waiting cars to go back to the Summers house where we will suffer the painful task of listening to people we hardly know and really don't care about, pretend to be able to share our grief. I swear it will be a miracle if I don't kill someone this afternoon. Giles is looking over at me with his eyebrows slightly raised. I guess I'm not hiding my feelings very well right now. Guess what. I don't give a shit. If one of those assholes says the wrong thing to me or even worse, to Joyce, I swear I won't be responsible for what happens. Giles must understand cause, as I look him in his eye, he gives me the slightest of nods. Like he's telling me that he'll be right there with me. I knew I liked something about that guy, and not just the whole "used to be Ripper" routine.

We made it through the afternoon and nobody else had to die. It was touch and go there for awhile though. Some stupid lady from down the street just wouldn't shut up about how "Buffy used to keep such late hours, sneaking into the house in the early morning, no wonder she ended up the way she did". I had had enough. The dumb bitch couldn't shut up and wasn't smart enough to keep her voice down. Joyce was getting paler by the minute and I was getting redder. Then just as I started to cross the room to shut her up myself, Giles grabbed hold of her arm and leaning down whispered something in her ear. Her eyes got about three sizes larger and all the color drained from her face. She actually started to look green as she got up from her seat, without saying anything to anyone, and left through the front door. I looked Giles in his eyes and saw my rage echoed there. He gave me a short nod and I nodded back, but I sure as hell was gonna find out later what he said to her to make leave like that. It might be something I could use later on. Ya never know, right.

Finally the day is over, Giles and Willow are gonna stay here with Joyce. Xander went home a little while ago, Cordelia was dropping him off on her way home. Oz had left with them after promising Willow he would see her tomorrow. I gave Joyce a last hug and headed back to my motel. She tried to get me to stay at the house, but I'm just not ready for that yet. Maybe someday though for tonight I need to be alone. Ya see, I got a whole lot of tears I gotta shed and I'll be damned if I'll force Joyce to see them.


	11. Chapter 11

Chapter 11: Postcards from the Grave

Disclaimer: I do not own any of the recognizable characters contained within.

That would be Joss Whedon, Mutant Enemy, etc….

It's been a few weeks now since the funeral. Giles and the Scoob's seem to be moving on and healing, Joyce not so much. The Council called that Wesley guy back to merry old England when they found out Buffy had died. They even reinstated Giles, with back pay of course, and assigned him to be my official Watcher. I think he's secretly thrilled to be back with the Council, but he'll never show it. He got right down to business too. Made a training schedule for me, started me on demonology lessons, all kinds of slayer/watcher bonding stuff. I go along with it mostly cause I know it's the only thing helping him to move on.

I've been keeping up with the patrols even though demonic activity seems to be at an all time low. Giles thinks it's because of the passing of the Slayer. He says all the demons are keeping a low profile until they see what the new Slayer is gonna do. What a crock, right? I've been here all along and they know damn well what I'm gonna do. I think it's because the old Slayer is still around and taking care of business. Which, by the way, is really pissing me off. I haven't had a good slay in awhile. It's like she doesn't think I can keep this crappy little town safe or something. Another thing that's bugging the shit outta me is that I haven't seen her in weeks. Not since that night she showed up at my motel room.

Not that I'm even staying there anymore. I did take Joyce up on her offer to move into the house with her. Buffy or any vamp for that matter, being able to just show up in my room anytime they want started me thinking that a change of address was definitely a necessity not a luxury. So the week after the funeral I stopped by to see how Joyce was doing and she asked me again to move in. I didn't really need to think about it, I just said yes. That afternoon we packed up my meager possessions, checked me out of the motel and by that night I was resettled in the spare bedroom at the Summers house. It's down the hall from Joyce's room, but right across from Buffy's old room. That took some getting used to let me tell ya. Sometimes at night I think I can hear someone moving around in there, but I haven't had the tingles so I'm pretty sure it's my imagination.

The only real downside to living here is that I'm having nightmares. Well, that's not strictly true, the nightmares actually started the night of the funeral. I went back to the motel room, grabbed my ever present bottle of Jack Daniels and tried to drown the day's events. I didn't get too far through the bottle when I passed out. I remember tossing and turning all night and when I woke up the only dream I could remember was the nightmare I've been having most often lately.

It starts out at Restview Cemetery. Yea, that's the one were Buffy got taken. It doesn't take Freud to see where this is leading, huh? Anyway, instead of Buffy being there alone, I'm with her. We come across the crypt where the vamps are hanging out and we attack. At first it's like one of our normal patrols. We're kicking vamp ass, running our synchronized slaying routines, then it starts to change. We fight our way inside the crypt still dusting vamps as they come, but they don't stop. For every vamp we dust two more show up. B is fighting her way towards the back of the crypt and I'm fighting to stay by her side, when I get grabbed from behind and thrown back up outta the door. I go into a roll and come up on my feet to face this big ass, ugly vamp. He's standing between me and the door to the crypt with a torch in his hand. I lunge at him, throwing punch and kick combinations for all I'm worth and he just blocks them away, then waves the torch at my face, making me back off. Suddenly, I hear B scream my name from inside. I take off running right at the vamp, dodge to the side at the last minute and stake him through the heart on my way past. Just before he turns to dust though, he throws the torch he was holding backwards through the crypt door. There is a huge whoosh noise and the whole interior of the crypt lights up like an inferno. I hear Buffy screaming for me, 'Faith, Faith, help me' and there's nothing I can do. I tried, Christ knows I tried to get in there, to help her get out of there, but the flames are too hot and spreading too fast. The smoke is rolling out the door and roof like a volcano exploded. Through the flickering flames and heat waves I can see her. She's crouched down in the corner where I found her necklace, coughing, tears running from her eyes, still calling for me through her raw, smoke scorched throat. I watched her burn.

It's right about that point where I wake up. I used to wake up screaming myself, but since I moved in here with Joyce, I learned to keep the screams inside. Sometimes when I first wake up there are small burns on the sides of my hands from where I tried to get in through the door in my dream. They disappear after I wake up, but I know they were there and I know why they were there. That dream is the worst of them so I'll let it stand as an example for the rest. Just let me say that the rest are not a whole lot better. I used to think the dreams I had when I first came to Sunnydale, ya know, the ones about how I grew up, were bad. I find myself praying for one of those dreams when I sleep anymore.

So other than the odd nightmare we are all settling in. I train, I slay (when possible) and I try and help Joyce keep going every day. I think things are about to get interesting again on the Buffy front though. I came home from training with Giles today and Joyce calls out from the kitchen that I have mail on the hall table. Mail? Me? First, I never get mail, not even junk mail. There's no one that I know that would write me and everyone I would expect to hear from I see almost every day.

I went over to the table and picked up the envelope that was sitting there. Sure enough it's addressed to: Faith LeHane C/O Mrs. Joyce Summers 1630 Revello Drive Sunnydale, CA.. What the hell? I flipped the envelope over and ran my knife blade along the top to open it. There was a single card inside and as I spilled it out into my hand, I could see that it's a postcard. Why someone would send a postcard in an envelope didn't make sense to me, that is until I turned it over to read it.

On the front was a picture of a tomb made of marble. The picture looked like it was taken under a full moon cause there are slight shadows under the urns on the mausoleum's steps. In the center of the steps is Buffy in full vamp face, leaning on her hand and staring at the camera. In a purple pen she had written, 'Dearest Faith, hanging in a cemetery just isn't the same without you. Can't wait till you're with me!!!! Love, Buffy'. Again I say, 'What the hell?' Can't wait till I'm with her? Love Buffy? Holy shit, I was hoping that she either moved on or decided to leave me alone. I should of known better. Buffy always got what she wanted when she was alive, why would it be any different now that she's dead? I think my problems are only starting.

Postcard from the Grave


	12. Chapter 12

Chapter 12: The Things You Learn at Night

Disclaimer: I do not own any of the recognizable characters contained within.

That would be Joss Whedon, Mutant Enemy, etc….

After getting that postcard I was kinda freaked. I kept wondering if maybe I should let Giles in on my little secret, ya know, maybe he could help me get an undead restraining order against B or something. Then I thought about how he was able to get his life back on track and how well he was adjusting, I couldn't put him through all that. Also, there was the fact that he actually seemed to like working with me. He trusted me. If I went to him and was all like, 'Hey G, Guess what? Your girl didn't really die, she was just turned and I knew all about it' he would never trust me again. Then there's the possibility he would want to track her down and stake her, which would not be of the good. I'm not sure I want to be Buffy's play toy, but I'm positive I don't want anyone ramming wood in her chest. Yea, she's a vamp now and I get that, but I gotta admit that I still love her. I just can't get the thought of what it felt like when she kissed me outta my mind. The way my body just naturally responded, it was everything I always wanted to feel.

Then my head'll kick in with 'What are you, crazy? She's a vamp. VAMPIRE. You are a Slayer. Slayer plus vamp equals dust pile. What part aren't you getting?' Needless to say I'm still a bit confused. I used to be able to just listen to my head and get on takin care of business. I never had to worry about my head and heart being on different pages cause I never let anyone have my heart before. Not until B.

So that means Giles has definitely gotta be left outta the loop. Unfortunately, he's the only one that I would even think about telling, so I'm back to where I started. I'll keep B's change of life style to myself and deal the best I can. One good thing, at least for me it is, is that the vamp and demon activity has spiked back up. I'm getting two or three good slays in a night and that helps keep my mind off my Buffy problem, at least for a while. The increased evil's playtime is also keeping Giles on his toes. He's always happiest when there is some obscure demon activity to research, looking for deeper meanings or lost prophecies. He's like a kid in a candy store.

Speaking of Giles, the other thing that seems to keep him happy is the dinners he's been havin with Joyce. It started out as a once in a while thing, now they're like goin out every week. He's trying to be low key about it, playing it off like it's not that often, but I live here now and with slayer hearing I don't miss much. I'm just hopin that if they ever get around to 'doin the dirty', they go to his place or something. That's one sound track I could definitely do without, thank you very much.

Alright, I just got a bad visual to go along with that thought. Ugh!!! I need to get outta here. It's almost sundown anyway so I'm gonna start patrol. Who knows I might get a few extra slays in tonight. Sounds like a great night doesn't it? Slay some evil, grab some grub, then come home and take care of that other H in my nice warm bed. Alone. Again. On second thought it doesn't sound like that great of a finish to my night. Maybe I'll hit the Bronze instead and see what's shaking there. If Oz's band is playing, then Red and Xand might be there. They can be good for a laugh. We'll see. Right now I'm gonna just concentrate on the slayage part of tonight's program.

Man, am I glad I patrolled early tonight. I found a coupla vamps in the second cemetery I checked and had an interesting conversation with one of them. Okay, so I just gotta tell ya how it all went down. Like I said, I had all this crap running around in my head cause a the whole 'B's a vamp and now she wants me' thingy. Huh, I must be nuts to be letting it get to me like this. I mean, she had to die to be able to let herself love me? Gives the phrase 'I'd rather die first' a whole new meaning, heh, heh. Anyhow, I went on my normal patrol route starting on the east side of town and slowly movin west. When I went through the first cemetery, there wasn't much happening, but there were a bunch of crypts that looked like they had been ransacked. You know, doors left open, coffin lids kinda pushed to the side. I didn't feel any vamps around and I'm no Sherlock Holmes, that was more B's thing, but something seemed to be up.

When I got to the second cemetery on the menu, I started seeing the same thing. So some big bad is out looking for something. The question is what and why. This'll give Giles something to worry over for at least the next week. This time though, I can feel my slayer sense revving up. In the middle of the cemetery there's this weird crypt I never really paid attention to before. Instead of the normal box shape, this one has five sides. Almost star shaped and from inside is where I'm feeling the vamps. Movin closer I can hear them and their not sounding too happy right about now. Guess what, they're about to get a whole lot more unhappy. Me? My night just started lookin up and I can feel the grin spreading across my face.

I move up towards the door all stealthy and shit to get a peek inside before I take em down. Yea, I know. Me being careful isn't my usual style, but I'm thinking more and more about what happened to B and I'm not about to be taken out like that. Lookin inside I see two guy's. My slayer sense tells me they're vamps, but they ain't in game face yet. It looks like they just finished searchin for whatever it is they're after, but it don't seem like they found it yet. Steppin inside I throw out, "Can I help you boy's with something? Ya know, you're gonna have to clean up this mess before I let ya leave."

One of them turns to me and says, "Who said anything about leaving when dinner was just delivered?" The other one starts trying to circle around to my side. Okay, this I like. It seems they want to play and it's just what I need to get my mind off things. The one that started talking decides to jump me. "What no foreplay?" I ask. I step to the side as he comes at me and spin into a roundhouse kick that takes him in the back of the head as he goes past, knocking him outta the crypt door. The other one makes a grab for my arm, I reverse the grip and yank him face first into the wall. A coupla quick jabs to his kidneys and he starts to slump. "Uh, uh baby," I say to him. "Ya gotta have more stamina then that if you wanna play with me." I grab him by his neck and waist and threw him out the door into his partner that was just trying to come back through. I followed them both back outside where they landed, all tangled up together. I'm startin to buzz just a little. I mean, these two are pathetic but it's been awhile for me, ya know. A slay a day keeps the boredom away and all that.

They get themselves separated and try to attack again. They both come at me this time. I rabbit punch the lead one and backhand the other. They're kinda standing on each side of me, so I keep turnin from side to side dishing out the punches and kicks. They're landing a coupla blows, but my engine is revved up and I don't even feel em. I give a front kick to one that sends him flying into a tombstone, breaking his back. That'll put him down for a few minutes until he heals up. The other one grabs me from behind, so I slam my head back into his face breaking his nose and making him let go. I yank my stake outta my waistband while I spin around, then plunge it into his chest and watch him dust away. One down, one to go.

I slowly walk over to the one on the ground. He's just startin to be able to move again, so I kick him over onto his back and sit down on him. I got my stake pointed right over his heart and started with the questions. "Not that it hasn't been fun an all, but I'm startin to get a little bored. What're you and your dust buddy lookin for?" I ask. His eyes are all big as he stares between the stake at his heart and the slayer on his chest. "A…a…ring., he stammers. My forehead scrunches up in confusion and I gotta ask, "A ring? What, you two gonna get engaged or something?" He looks almost as confused as I am, but also with a healthy dose of scared thrown in. "No, we were told to find the Gem of Amara."

"So what's this Gem of Armadillo thing do?" I asked him, pushing a little harder on my stake. "I wasn't told what it does, just that she wants it and that's all I'm……..", his voice trailed off as I pushed my stake through him, letting his dust blow away on the wind. I was already thinking that I should let Giles know about this ring they were looking for. Whatever it is, I'm sure it means more action for me. The vamps hadn't found the gem yet so that probably meant there wasn't an apocalypse gonna happen before sunrise. Looking around one last time I decided I'd tell Giles in the morning and headed home.


	13. Chapter 13

Chapter 13: Graveyard Meeting

Disclaimer: I do not own any of the recognizable characters contained within.

That would be Joss Whedon, Mutant Enemy, etc….

On my way out of the graveyard, I'm walking through a pretty open area, when I see a flash of white low to the ground. Whatever it is it's movin pretty quick, dodging between the tombstones. Still havin a slight buzz from the fight earlier, I take off after it to find out what it is. As I come up to a big grave marker, I see a big white dog standing there. Holy shit, that ain't no dog, it's a goddamn wolf. I slow down to a walk then stop dead in my tracks. The closer I get, the more my stomach tightens up and I can feel that old familiar electric shock growin. The wolf is just standing there staring at me and I'm not sure if I should run or stay and fight it if it attacks.

I'm so busy watching the wolf I don't see B slide around the side of the marker and sorta lean against it until she speaks. "Hey Faith, busy night?" she says all casual like. "You don't write, you don't call. My friend thinks you're avoiding me. If you keep this up, I'm gonna get a complex."

Graveyard Meeting

I don't know if it's cause I already knew she was there from the tingles, or if I was just expecting her to eventually find me, but I'm not really surprised to see her. I'm not even slowed down by her being in vamp face. "Hey B. What's with the new pet? I always thought you were more of a kitten person. Ya never seemed like a dog type a girl to me."I said while keeping my eyes on her friend.

B gets a little pissy as she says, "It's a wolf Faith, not a dog. Anymore I find kittens a little too soft and cuddly for my tastes. Though, they do make a nice snack."

Can I just say, Eww? I flick my eyes over to her for a moment and then back to the wolf as I say, "Well, I guess a girl does have to eat, but kittens? When you were alive you couldn't even watch cartoons where a cat got hurt without tearing up. Now you're all serving them up as delicacies?"

She said, "Yea, I've had to change my perspective a little just lately," and I can hear the smirk in her voice, "but basically I'm still the same." Yea, right, I still have my doubts about that one.

"So," I say, "not that I'm not glad to see ya or anything, but I'm not little red riding hood and if your buddy there tries anything I'm gonna have to put him down." I let the knife I had pulled from my jacket show down by my leg.

"Now, now Faith," she says," You don't want to go there with him. I think he's been very good about not threatening you in any way and here you are talking about slicing him up. Very disappointing." I look over at her again and she's leaning there smiling at me like she's having a blast.

"Look B,.... Buffy," I said, "I don't wanna stand out here all night while you get your rocks off playin with me." Oops, I actually got a real nice visual after saying that and had to shake the image clear from my head. "Why don't you just tell me what you want so I can be on my way?" I asked.

She looks down at the wolf and says, "Go home." The wolf looked up at her, then back to me and gave a low growl before turning and disappearing into the night. "Now that we're finally alone," she says, "you can put that knife away."

I say back, "I kinda like havin it out. It feels good in my hand, ya know?"

She gives a little chuckle and steps closer. "You know as well as I do Faith, that little knife wouldn't be able to even slow me down, right?"

Well, she did have a point. So I sighed and put my knife away. I didn't really want to, but I also didn't want her thinking I was afraid of her. Besides, I could feel that connection we have growing by the minute, causing a slow burnin throb to work its way all through my body. I always got worked up whenever B was around, her being a vamp didn't change that, in fact her being able to tell me how much she wants me made it worse. It's one thing to want someone and know you can't have them. It's something else entirely to want someone, know they want you too and still have to resist because of job conflicts. Man, I can never get a break.

I suddenly notice how hot it is out tonight. Was it this warm earlier? Then I see that B has moved right up next to me, barely a breath keeping us apart. She let the vamp face fade away again and stood there looking at me with her deep green eyes and the moonlight shining in her hair, makin it look slivery. My breath caught in my throat and I had to look away for a moment or risk falling into her eyes. "Whadya want B," I ask quietly. I'm afraid to speak to loud, afraid I'll just fall into her arms and let her do whatever she wants. I always would of let her do what she wants. When she was human, I woulda given her my body and heart without a second thought, but now I think she would be takin my soul.

"I've tried to stay away from you Faith, to give you some time to think over what I'm offering you," she started. "I did go to your motel a couple of times, but it seems you've moved out and didn't leave a forwarding address. Yea, I know you moved in with my mom and I'm kinda glad you're there for her." Buffy lifted her hand and started running it softly up and down my arm. Goosebumps broke out where she touched me and I felt my heart speed up. She continues speaking as her hand traveled farther up my arm and started rubbing small circles on the side of my neck. "I like to think you did it for her and not that you were trying to get away from me. You know I can still come and go as I please from my old house, right? It's one of the reasons that most vampires attack their family first thing. They can just walk back into their houses any time they want and usually being driven by the first blood lust, they go wherever they can to feed."

Actually I didn't know that, but I wasn't about to tell Buffy. Besides, my mind was pretty much goin on vacation from the soft sensations she was causing inside me. I found myself slowly leaning more in towards her, like a cat havin its ears scratched. I could almost hear the purring start deep in my chest. My eyes slipped closed and my lips turned to her without me even thinking about it. Next thing I know, I feel the softest of kisses start. Just the slightest pressure of lips and a slow teasing movement. I start leaning down into B to deepen the kiss as I wrap my arms around her back, pulling her closer.

I can feel the coolness of her skin, the hardness of her muscles, and then just as I realize it, she is suddenly soft and yielding in my arms. She's stretching up to my lips, leaning her body fully into mine and the feel of her sliding along the front of me is driving me crazy. I feel her lips drift away from mine, slowly leaving tiny kisses along my jaw as she moves towards my ear. She reaches out to my ear lobe with her tongue and then pulls it into her mouth, slowly sucking on it. My face is turned into her neck with my nose buried in the hair behind her ear. The smell of herbal shampoo with a hint of vanilla is all Buffy. They say that smell is the most underrated sense that humans use and right now I more than agree with them. The first whiff of that distinctive Buffy smell takes me back to all the training sessions, all the times dancing, every time I was up close to her. I'm overpowered with the memories and sensations pounding through me. The slight purring in my chest is quickly becoming a low growl of desire. I barely notice as B stops sucking on my ear and moves down to nuzzle my neck. She lightly licks at the pulse point on my throat and my heart nearly stops as I feel her teeth barely graze the skin.

It's like a bucket of cold water is dumped over me. All my slayer sense go on full alert and I'm snapped back to the here and now. I jerk upright and throw myself backwards landing on the ground on my ass. I'm looking up at her and the lust is quickly turnin to anger. "You tried to freakin bite me!" I shout at her. She's standing there with that shit-eating grin on her face, trying to give me her innocent 'Who me?' look.

Then she says, "Aww Faith, I only wanted a little taste. I wouldn't of taken much. Besides it didn't seem like you were minding too much at the time, baby." Teasing me? Is she freakin teasing me about almost biting me? Okay the lust is absolutely gone for now, all that's left is a pissed off slayer. She starts walking over towards me and I jump to my feet getting in a low fighting stance.

"Wanted a taste, my ass," I said pulling my knife back out of my jacket. "I am not, repeat NOT, gonna ever be your dinner Buffy, so you better get that idea outta your head right now."

She stopped moving towards me and tilted her head to the side a little. "Faith," she says, "are you really gonna keep fighting me? Could you really use that knife on me?"

She had a point. I didn't know myself if I could do it, but that was another piece of information I didn't want to share. Instead I say to her, "For all your talk about being in control and the slayer in you being able to choose, you sure seem to be acting like a typical blood starved vamp to me. What, the kitten cocktails just not doing it for ya?" Oh shit. Now she's got a look in her eyes like I just kicked her pet wolf. Tears well up in them and her bottom lip starts to tremble a little.

"I think I better go now Faith," she says and starts to drift back into the night. "I guess you're just not ready yet to believe me when I say I love you and wouldn't hurt you. I would never do anything that you didn't want me to. You have to know that, right?" I didn't answer her, just watched her turn to leave. The last thing she said is, "This is me, going. I'll give you some time to think about tonight, maybe then you'll realize what it is you really want. Who you really want. I'll see you around." Then she was lost in the darkness.

I stood there for a few more minutes getting my act back together and rubbing my neck to see if she broke the skin. My hand came away clean so I guess she didn't get that taste she wanted. My insides are trembling and my stomach is doing flip flops. I feel like shit for havin hurt her feelings. I know, I know, she's a vamp, what feelings blah, blah, and blah. At the same time I'm pissed off about her being so close to biting me. As if that's not bad enough, I'm also hornier than hell because of the kissing AND the almost biting. Yea, conflicted much? I don't know if I wanna laugh, get laid or sit down and cry. Why, why can't anything in my life be easy?


	14. Chapter 14

Chapter 14: Scoobies Reunited

Disclaimer: I do not own any of the recognizable characters contained within.

That would be Joss Whedon, Mutant Enemy, etc….

The next morning I went to see Giles. I really don't want to tell him about my Buffy problem, but he needs to know about the ring those vamps were looking for. Last night while I was laying in bed, after working off some of my tension, I started thinking about what the last vampire I dusted said. One phrase kept popping out and I was way too distracted after seeing Buffy to think much about it.

He said "I wasn't told what it does, just that she wants it…." She? Now who could that mean? How many new, powerful, she's are there in town right now that could have vampires running around doing what she wants? And our survey says…… Buffy. I hope to hell I'm wrong, but I don't think so. If Buffy is leading the undead in a quest for some mystical jewelry, then I'm gonna have to come clean with Giles. Shit and double shit.

I walk into the library to find Willow and Xander sitting at the research table. "What's up guys?" I ask as casual as I can.

Red looks up saying, "Hi." While Xander stands up and says, "Hey Faith. We're just hanging with G-man."

Walking over I say, "Where's Giles? I wanna talk to him about some vamps I ran into last night."

Red starts to look interested and asks, "Is there big trouble a brewing? A need to call a Scooby meeting…….," she let the question trail off as it hit her again that Buffy was gone and the Scoobies didn't really exist anymore.

I gave her a blank look, but came to her rescue anyway. "Well, I don't know about needing a formal meeting and shit, but I'm sure Giles will want some researching done," I tell her.

Giles picks that moment to come out of his office with his nose in a book and says to me, "Faith, again I would like to remind you that vulgar language is not the cornerstone of English, no matter what you may have been taught before." He's not lookin at me, but I can see the slight smile he's wearing. "Now, to what end will I be in need of research being done?"

I go over and grab a seat at the table, turned it around backwards and straddled the seat. Xander sat back down next to Red and Giles was standing off to the side. He did manage to tear himself away from his book though. "Last night while I was patrolling I ran into a coupla vamps ransacking a crypt at the Overlook Cemetery," I began. "It looked like they had already been through another cemetery I was at earlier, too. Anyway, I dusted one of them and was able to persuade the other to talk a little before he had to go."

"Had to go?" Xander asked with a rise of his eyebrows.

"Yea, once he was dusted, he just couldn't stick around, ya know?" I said. Xander gave a snort and I continued the story, "Before he lost the power of speech, he said they were looking for 'The Gem of Amaretto' or something." I scrunched my forehead up trying to remember, that didn't sound quite right. Giles started muttering, the gem of amaretto, over and over to himself. His eyes had a faraway look, like he was trying to remember something that was on the tip of his tongue.

Red asks in a loud voice," Gem of Amara?"

"Yea, that coulda been it." I said nodding my head.

"Good Lord," Giles gasped, as he went off on an obscure book quest.

"What's with him?" Xander asked. He was as out of the loop as I was.

Red started to fill in some details while Giles was off scavenging up his reference book. "The Gem of Amara, not amaretto, is supposed to be like a vampire holy grail or something. I remember seeing a reference to it when we were looking for a way to return Angel's soul to him. I don't remember much else really, just that vampires back to the 10th century have been looking for it ever since it was lost."

"As I imagine they would," Giles said as he came back with the book he was looking for. "The Gem of Amara was reputed to be able to endow a vampire with invulnerability. It would make the wearer immune to the things that normally would kill it. Just think of it, immunity to stakes, beheading, fire, even the sun. I would guess that being able to walk around in the daylight would be quite an incentive for a creature of the night. It would be more than enough reason on its own to search it out at all costs. Unfortunately, there isn't a clear description of the gem, just a passage stating that it must be in contact with the possessor for its powers to work."

I figured I could enlighten Giles a little on that one. "Well according to dusty, the gem is a ring. That's what they were looking for anyhow. On the bright side, they didn't find it before I found them and they won't be looking for it anymore," I finished with a smirk.

"Yes, that is most fortunate, Faith." Giles smiled over at me, "However, if it is true that the gem is here at the Hellmouth, we should continue to search for it and destroy it if we find it. It is much too powerful an artifact to risk it falling into the hands of evil."

Willow had been looking through Giles' book and jumped into the conversation, "This text refers to the gem of Amara as 'residing in the valley of the sun'. That's demon fancy talk for Sunnydale, right?"

"Yes, "Giles responded, "It seems the gem may exist after all, in Sunnydale in a sealed crypt."

"Alright," I said, "How about you guys do the homework and I'll copy yours? I'm gonna head out and check some more of the crypts we have here in SunnyD, maybe I'll get lucky. I'll check in later and you can let me know if you narrowed down the location any." Then calling over to Willow I added, "Hey Red? I guess we needed that Scooby meeting after all, huh?" She gave me a bashful smile and nodded her head as I turned and walked back out the door.

I got a few steps away when I heard the door open behind me. Turning I found Giles walking towards me.

When he came up to me he said, "Faith, I didn't want to say anything in front of the others, but was there something else you wished to speak about?"

Huh, and huh? "Nah, uh, no Giles. Why, did it seem like I forgot something?" I stammered.

"No, not really, you just seem to be a bit distracted today. Please, remember you can speak to me about anything. I will always be here for you," he said.

"Yea, I know that G," I tell him, "and I appreciate it. Really. But, uh, there's just some things I gotta work out for myself, ya know?"

He reached up and tried to pat me on my shoulder, but I flinched back a little. "Yes, well, just so you know that I'm here for you." Then he went back down and into the library to oversee the Scooby research. If Buffy was head of the Scooby gang are we now the Scrappy gang? Does that make me Scrappy Doo? Oh no! Uh, uh! Screw that! I'm outta here.


	15. Chapter 15

Chapter 15: Feeling the Pressure

Disclaimer: I do not own any of the recognizable characters contained within.

That would be Joss Whedon, Mutant Enemy, etc….

I spent most of the afternoon climbing around in old crypts and have nothing to show for it but a bad case of coffin mould under my fingernails. I had called the library earlier and they hadn't come up with anything new for me to go on, so I just kept at it the old fashioned way. Break the door, rip open the coffins, swirl and repeat. I finally had to give up for awhile. Joyce was expecting me home for dinner and then I would have my normal patrol to do.

Is this what it was like for B when she was the only slayer? No wonder she wanted to call it quits. I mean, yea, I get the sacred duty thing, but still, ya gotta have a coupla minutes to yourself once in a while don'tcha? It seems like every waking moment is filled with what someone else needs. Find the mystic thingy, hunt and kill the bad vamps, don't forget the demon sacrifice at 11:oo. Sheesh, it's a wonder Buffy didn't go off the deep end sooner.

Dinner was nice though. I'll tell ya, Joyce can cook her ass off. I've never been fed so well in my life. With all the food she makes and as good as it tastes, I got no idea how B stayed so small. Slayer metabolism or not, I think I put on at least five pounds in the time I been staying there. She's real good company too. We talk about her gallery and what's on exhibit at any given week. She seems to like that I'm interested, and I am too. It's not just sucking up cause she gave me a good place to stay. Some of the stuff she's into at the gallery is great.

Like there's this one picture she showed me of an African medicine man mask. Supposedly the mask can give the wearer the power to bring back the dead as zombies. I asked Giles about that one cause I didn't really need any more surprises and he told me that yes the mask did exist, but it was switched for a fake a few years ago and the original was destroyed. I tried to press him for more details, but he wasn't givin up the goods. I guess maybe it involved some bad memories for him, I dunno.

So after dinner I help Joyce clean up and put away the dishes, then we watched some TV until it's time for me to patrol. It makes me kinda sad and happy at the same time to see the look in her eyes every night when I go out. It's like she really cares that I be careful and come back to her, that's the happy part, but at the same time I see how much it hurts her that Buffy isn't still here, saying goodbye as she goes out on patrol. Man, it really tears me up inside and I know there's nothing I can do to make it easier on her. All I can do is make sure she doesn't have to go through that pain again, and I'll be damned if she has to.

I head on out and decide to start on the west side of town just to change things up a bit. You know me, Miss Spontaneity. Yea, right. The only spontaneous thing I've done lately is to set a crypt on fire to cover for my vampire girlfriend. What? Where the hell did that come from? She's not my girlfriend, she's not my girlfriend. She's just a friend that's a girl. A friend that's a girl, that I can't stop thinking about kissing. Ugh! Where's a demon uprising when you need it? Any other day and there'd be an apocalypse going on so I wouldn't have to think about this shit.

I pick up my pace and I'm in the woods alongside a cemetery before my mind drives me completely insane. I come through the trees into the cemetery itself and what do ya know? There, not fifty feet in front of me is a group of guys that look like they're up to no good. Five guys standing in a loose circle around two girls and the girls are not looking happy about it. This is more like it, a little distraction for the body and the mind, heh, heh. I slowly move in towards them, listening to see what they're up to.

As I get closer it looks like the girls are scared. They're kinda huddled together and they keep jerking their heads around trying to keep all the guys in sight at the same time. I can hear the guys now, they're talkin about how good it's gonna be to play with their victims tonight before draining them. As the clouds overhead drift apart I can see they're all in vamp face and that just excites the girls more. Every time one of the girls tries to move, the vamps would grab them and throw them back towards the center of the circle. They weren't being to gentle with them either. Alright, I had seen enough. It was time to put an end to this shit and I mean like now.

I take a few running steps and leap up onto the top of a tombstone, using it to spring high enough in the air to forward flip into the middle of the group. I pull a stake from my boots into each hand and land with them twirling on my palms. "Hey guys," I say softly, "I hear you know how to show a girl a good time. Can I play?" These idiots just stand there for a minute looking at each other. I shrug my shoulders and say, "Okay, you're all the silent type, I get it. Bet I can make ya scream." Then I slide to my left and stake the two vamps that were standing there, opening up a space for the girls to run away through. "Go on, get outta here," I shout to the girls as I spin around to meet the other three vamps that are just starting to move towards me. The girls must be brighter than I thought cause as soon as the way was open, they started movin their asses out. Though if they were that bright they wouldn't of been in a cemetery at night alone with five guys to begin with.

The three that are left try and rush me. Yea, like that's gonna work. I start movin in between them lashing out with punches and kicks as I go. I'm movin to that internal rhythm I always have. Something only I can hear. Well, only me and one other, but she's not here right now and I'm not sure we would still be in tune like that anymore. This is what I love about slaying, it's almost like a dance for me. No, scratch that, it is a dance for me. For the demons I fight it's a dance of death, for me, it's a dance of life. They move forward, I move back, they step to the side and I move to intercept them. I don't even have to think about it most of the time. It just happens and next thing you know, there's a vamp stuck on my stake.

So I'm dancing through these guys, makin sure to just miss the heart as I jab em with my stakes. I don't want it to end to quick, this is one of the best slays I've had all week. All of a sudden I realize that the girls hadn't run away after all, they just circled around me. Holy shit, am I an ass or what? They played me, damn it. I hear them movin up on my blind side but can't get around to see what they're doin in time. Next thing I know I'm hit by both of them tackling me and I go down face first onto the ground. I try and roll as I land but only get part way turned over on my back. It's just enough so I can see the girls, one on each arm and in vamp face. Looking down I see two of the guy vamps holding my legs and the last asshole comin straight for me.

Okay this is a little too much like B's story for me to take. All these vamps have my slayer alarms ringing so loud I can't hear myself think. I start thrashing around, trying to grab one of my stakes off the ground where they fell. I just manage to get one in my hand when I hear that familiar whoosh sound and I get a face full of dust. I hear it again as I'm blinking dust outta my eyes and now I got the use of my left hand back. Lucky me it's the one with the stake in it and I roll to my right and dust the girl vamp there. I look around and all I see are the two guy vamps that are left. I got no idea who saved me and right now don't care. I spring up to my feet and figure I better end this now before any other surprises come my way. I move up and take my favorite fighting stance, left leg a little forward, right hand cocked back with a stake in it and that's when I feel her. I look over my left shoulder and there's B, in her normal fighting stance whenever we do our synchronized slaying routine.

She glances over at me and says, "Let's see if you remember how this goes." I can't help it, I give a chuckle and say, "You're on Blondie, just remember, I'm not the one who got dead recently." She smiles back and says, "You would have been if I hadn't been here." Then there's no more talking and it's just like old times.

It didn't take long for us to finish off the vamps, working together like that. I was wrong though, Buffy could still hear my internal sound track. The timing was still there, the energy was still there, the feelings were still there. And yea, the vamps did die screaming just like I promised. After it was over we stood there looking at each other and just smiling, then I guess the blood lust was too much for B, cause she slipped into vamp face. That pretty much broke the mood for me. I said, "Aww, god damn it B, this is never gonna work," then I turned and started walking outta the cemetery.

She ran a little to catch up and walked along side of me. She started talking, gesturing around with her hands like she used to, "Why not Faith? You saw how we were together. It's just like it always was. You can't tell me that you didn't feel it too. Our connection's still there, we belong together."

I kept on walking but said, "Jesus Buffy, don't you see how hard this is for me? Can't ya just give me some time?"

She tells me, "I got all the time in the world, Faith. Can you say the same?" This was pretty low, seeing as she knew damn well I didn't. If it wasn't for her showing up when she did tonight, I woulda been out of time.

I looked over at her finally and at some point she musta got enough control back to slip back into her normal face. It was just Buffy looking over at me now. B. She reached out and grabbed my arm to stop me from walking. When I turned to her she said, "Faith, I know this is hard for you, I get that, but I'm afraid if you wait too long something'll happen to you. Then it'll be too late." She reached up cupping my cheek and leaned in to give me a light kiss. I stood there letting the feeling wash over me. She stepped back and said, "I can wait for you Faith, but please, don't you wait too long." Then she walked off and I was left standing there by myself more confused than ever.

Buffy Pressures Faith


	16. Chapter 16

Chapter 16: To Walk In The Sun

Disclaimer: I do not own any of the recognizable characters contained within.

That would be Joss Whedon, Mutant Enemy, etc….

So, I'm not gonna lie to ya. Buffy has my head so turned around I don't know if I'm comin or goin. Last night she really saved my ass. If she really isn't the same girl I fell in love with, than why would she do that? What possible reason could there be for her to be playing with me like this? Since she got turned, she's faster, quieter and, though I don't know for sure, I'm betting stronger than when she was alive. She doesn't need me to protect her. She doesn't need me to hide her. She doesn't need me to do anything for her. She can do it all herself. What does that leave? That she just _needs me_? That she just _wants me_? That she just _loves me_?

How do I feel about her, you ask? Heh, heh, that's easy. I still love her, I still miss her. I miss seeing her get in a babble fest with Red. I miss seeing her roll her eyes behind Giles' back when he's trying to lecture her on demon aspects. I miss seeing her walking down the hall, when she doesn't know I'm looking, just watching her totally relaxed and being perfect. I miss the way it feels when it's just the two of us and I'm teasing her so bad she turns red with embarrassment. Christ, I miss how I can feel her before she even enters a room. I'd be sitting there in the library and then the tingles would start low in my belly. The warmth would spread from there outward and a smile would light up my face. I would turn to look at the door just as she came through with her eyes already fixed on mine, cause she knew exactly where I was in the room before she came in. If that ain't love, then it's the closest I'll ever come to it and it's good enough for me.

The real question is what do I do about it now? I can't keep putting Buffy off forever, she was never known for her patience ya know. Sooner or later she's not gonna leave me a choice and probably do something impulsive, that'll end up with one or both of us dead. The not getting up and walking around kinda dead. I've been chasing this shit around in my head long enough, it's time I made a decision. I'll find her tonight while I'm out on patrol and just flat out ask her what she really wants. Does she want me for a pet, some kinda ready, on hand, walking snack, or is she offering to be my partner forever. Cause let me tell you, if I go through with this and she starts that whole 'I want you, I don't want you shit' I swear I'll dust her ass and never look back. Yea, I guess I'm saying I'm gonna do it, if it's as real for her as it is for me. Pretty screwed up, huh?

I'm gonna have to talk to Giles, though. Maybe if I'm careful I can find out what me dying would mean to the Slayer line. I think that another slayer would be called in my place, but where would she be? What would she be like? Would anyone be here to protect the Hellmouth and keep Joyce, Giles and the Scoob's (I still can't stop thinkin of them as the Scoobies) safe? And what about Giles? What would he do? I mean, he wouldn't be a Watcher anymore right? Maybe Joyce and him could actually stop pussyfooting around and get together seriously. That'd be way cool. At least that way I know they would both be taken care of.

First things first, I'm headin over to the library to see what Giles is up to and, if he's alone, see if I can get some of my questions answered. I'll probably have to wait until Red and Xand are gone. Knowing them, they were there bright and early researching the gem of Amara angle. Shit, I forgot all about that. That's something else I gotta ask Buffy about if I see her tonight. How come every time I see her my mind goes on vacation and takes every important thought with it? Oh yea, that's why. But, I gotta stay focused tonight. I gotta get some real answers and if they're not the right answers, me and Blondie are gonna end up doing the final dance.

When I walk through the library doors, I see the gang just like I knew they'd be. Red's at the computer hacking away, fingers flying a mile a minute while she mutters to herself. Xand is slouched down at the table with a coupla books open around him and a half eaten jelly donut gripped in one hand. Giles is pacing back and forth with his nose in a book, every once in awhile I can hear him go 'Hmm, quite right'. Ya know, for someone who never really got along with these guys, I think I'm gonna miss em if I never see them again. I'm sure the feelings not mutual, well except for Giles, but Xand and Red will just get on with their lives. No harm no foul right?

Giles finally notices I came in and says, "Ah, Faith, good you're here."

I give him a smirk and say, "Hey there, Master of the Obvious, what's shakin?" He gives a sigh and indicates I should come over and take a seat. As I sit down I nod at Xander and Willow, "Hey", and they give little waves back. I guess Giles is gonna go into a lecture since they didn't say anything else.

Right on cue he starts in, "Faith, as you know, we've been researching the gem of Amara and I must say what we found is quite disturbing. The gem actually seems to exist," he continues. "There are quite a few entries about it in the early Watchers diaries, but they seem to lessen just after the tenth century. One must assume that is the period when it was lost. However, there are more recent entries, in the last hundred years or so, which indicate a renewed interest in finding it from the more vicious vampires. Two of which, most notably, were Angelus and Darla. It seems their trek across Europe during their "Scourge" years was in fact a quest to find the gem of Amara. Having no success, and with Angel having his soul restored, Darla apparently came across the reference "the gem of Amara resides in the valley of the sun", and she traveled here to the States to continue her search. This of course brought her within reach of the Master, who himself was imprisoned while attempting to retrieve it."

I was only sorta paying attention to what he said, since I never cared for history lessons. I said, "Hey Giles, that's really uninteresting and all, but do you or do you not have a clue where it is?"

"Faith," he chided, "You must realize by now, that knowing the past can only improve your chances in the future. If the Master and Darla both ended up here looking for the gem, chances are extremely good that it resides in one of the crypts you patrol past almost every night. Since they were not privy to the second part of the clue, which was contained in the watcher diaries being 'Where angels wings greet the day', I should think that the most likely place for it to be is at Restview cemetery in a crypt that has angels standing outside it with outstretched wings."

He had my full attention now. That sounded a little too much like the crypt Buffy had been turned in. I sat up gasping at him, "You said what?" was all I could get out.

"Ah yes, seeing as out of the thirteen cemeteries that are located in Sunnydale, only Restview has all of its crypt entrances facing east," he continued, "I should think that there is a very good chance the gem is hidden in one of them. It should be a fairly simple matter for you to find the crypt, search it and recover the ring," he finished looking over at me.

"Giles," I started. My mind was racing trying to wrap itself around all he just said. "That's…that's….I don't know what that is, but it's something." I could feel my heart speeding up as I realized what it meant. The vamps that turned Buffy were looking for the gem when Buffy came across them. That's why they were in that crypt. The gem of Amara was sitting there, waiting for someone to find it and I torched the whole place. There's no telling if it was destroyed in the fire or found when the fire was put out. I needed more info and I needed it now.

"If I can find this thing, how can it be destroyed? I mean, if it's all, mystical stone and stuff, do I need a spell or can I just smash it or burn it?" I had to ask. If there was a chance it was still out there, I needed to find it.

Red finally spoke up, "Faith we're thinking that the gem was at the crypt where Buf….Buffy died. We think she came across vampires looking for it there and that's when she fought them and…. lost." She let her voice trail off and I could see the tears in her eyes.

Xander leaned over and put an arm around Red, then turned to me and said, "If that was the place and the gem can be burned, it's probably destroyed already from the fire Buffy was caught in."

"The only way to be sure is if we go and search for ourselves," Giles said. He was thrown a little off his game as well by the memory of how Buffy died. "We should probably go now. The sooner this is resolved the better off we'll be."

Man, I really needed to come up with something fast. I did NOT want these guy's wandering around in that crypt. The SunnyD police and fire departments were one thing, but the Scoob's have been around demon fights for a long time. They might find something me and the cops missed.

"Look," I told them, "There's no reason for you guy's to have to go through this. I'll head over and check the place out on my own. If anything looks wonky, I'll back off and come back here for reinforcements, alright?" Giles started to object so I just went on talking over him. "I know how much she meant to you and you shouldn't have to see that place. I can find it easy, give it a good goin over and be back in a coupla hours, no sweat." I looked at each of them in turn and got a nod back from them. I'm glad they couldn't see how upset I really was. I didn't have the time to try and explain to em why I really didn't want them there. That's all I woulda needed. A big fight in the middle of a cemetery with the Scoob's, over why they thought Buffy was still alive and how they could go about finding her.

This shit is just getting harder and harder to deal with. I still need to talk to Giles alone, but it's gonna have to wait till I get back. Maybe I'll get lucky and be killed, then I won't hafta worry about any of it anymore.


	17. Chapter 17

Chapter 17: More Secrets Just Can't Be Good

Disclaimer: I do not own any of the recognizable characters contained within.

That would be Joss Whedon, Mutant Enemy, etc….

_Thanks Again to Jinxgirl and FaithSummers (faithleahne) for pre-reads and comments!!!!!_

I left the library and made my way back to Restview Cemetery. Damn, I'm spendin way too much time in this place. As I walk through the tombstones on my way to the crypt where B was vamp'd, I see how different this place looks in the daylight. The late afternoon sun is shining down and all the mausoleums seem to be glowing from it reflecting off their marble walls. It's always quiet in a cemetery, especially at night, as if even the animals try to respect the dead. But now, during the day, the quiet is different. I dunno, more peaceful, more comforting or something. Maybe it's just my mood.

I walk up to the crypt and see the angels standing there. I didn't take the time to notice it the other night, but yea, their standin there looking at where the sun would rise, with their wings outstretched as if to greet the day. Whoever carved em took the time to put enough detail into their faces that they almost seem alive. There's something there, around the eyes maybe, that gives them a feeling of sorrow. Like they have a burden that will never lift. Again, maybe it's just my mood.

The door is hanging open still from where the firemen knocked it in to put out the fire. I move up to it and rip the yellow 'Do Not Cross' tape off on my way through. I guess nobody cared enough to make any repairs in the weeks since the fire. Maybe there's no family left who visit. I go on inside and start looking around for where the gem might be hidden. There's soot over everything and I can see where someone else was already in here searching. You can see it in the way the soot is smeared around. I notice one of the coffin platforms is pushed outta the way. Under it is a square tile that looks like something was punched through it. Looking inside, I see it's empty. Whatever was in there is gone now. Damn it, someone or something beat me here. It kinda crosses my mind that it coulda been B, but I don't think so. I woulda seen a green gemmed ring on her hand last night if she had found it.

Well, this was a total bust, I better head back to Scooby central and report in. When I get there I'll try and get G alone so we can have a talk. A long overdue talk. As I turn to go, there's a man standing in the doorway. The sunlight is shining behind him, but my slayer alarms are starting to go off anyway. He takes a few steps into the crypt and I just know this ain't gonna be good.

"Well, well, well, what do we have here?" He asked. "I didn't know it was so easy to get take out delivery during the day."

Great. Just what I needed. Some creep who wants to play with me. "Look pal," I say. "I'm not in the mood to fool around right now. Why don't you check back with me in a few hours, huh? Maybe then I could spare ya a little time."

"In a few hours you'll be nothing but indigestion," he says back and starts moving in for me.

As he comes closer he lets his face morph. Christ! He's a vamp? What the hell's he doin out in the daylight? Oh shit. This must be the guy who found the ring. Now I know why you should be careful what you wish for, I just might end up dead today after all.

Screw this, I am NOT gonna just roll over and let this creep win. As he snaps his hand out to grab me, I spin around grabbing his wrist with one hand while slamming my other forearm into his elbow joint. Man, I never get tired of the sound of breaking demon bones. He howls in pain and tries to punch me with his other fist, but I duck under it and come up drivin my elbow into his chin. His head snaps back and he falls flat on the floor. I got my stake out and jump on his chest, drivin it into his heart as hard as I can. As I land on him, he brings his leg up and knees me in the chest, makin me fly back to land on my ass. I look at him with a smirk on my face waitin for him to dissolve to dust. He's lookin from the stake in his chest to me and back again, then he starts to laugh. Oh, oh. My smirk slides off my face as he continues to laugh.

We both stand back up and he reaches over to the arm I broke and gives it a pull and a twist. I can hear the bones pop back into place, then he shakes it out and flexes a bit. He stops laughin as he points a finger at me and says, "I don't know how it happened, but I can walk in the sun, your little stakes won't kill me and I found this slick ring here last night. It's like I hit the jackpot, now I'm a god. And you little girl, are going to be the first to worship me as a god should be." My eyes glance at the finger he's pointin at me and that's when I see the gold ring with a small green stone on his hand.

He started comin for me again and I'm trying to think of a way outta this fast. I move back and start to inch around the coffin behind me. This asshole keeps comin and didn't even bother takin the stake outta his chest. As he comes around the edge of the coffin, I leap up and over the coffin givin him a scissor kick in the face. He stumbles back with his arms flailing and I grab his arm and pull. I duck under his outstretched arm and twist around, getting him in an elbow lock and bending him forward.

He starts laughin again and says, "You can't kill me, I'm a god!"

Now it's my turn to smile as I rip the finger with the ring on it off his hand and say, "Didn't you hear? Even gods die." As soon as the ring comes off his hand he turns to dust from the stake he never bothered to pull outta his chest. I kick the pile of dust on my way past as I walk outside looking at the ring in my hand. The gem of Amara, it looks nice enough, not really my style though. It's a small square green gem, looks sorta like a really clear emerald, set in a thick gold band. There's some kinda symbols inscribed around the edge of the setting. Giles or Red could probably read them, but not me. Don't know and really don't care. I also don't think I'm gonna let them know I found the gem just yet. There's a halfassed plan formin in the back of my mind and I'm thinking I wanna keep some options open right now, ya know?

I slip the ring on my left ring finger and the band seems to shrink down to fit. No shit, self sizing jewelry, whadda they think of next. As I walk through the front gate of the cemetery, with the setting sun behind me, I'm wearing the first real smile I've had in weeks. As engagement rings go, this wouldn't be a bad one.

When I get back to the high school, I slip the ring offa my finger and into my front pocket for safe keepin. Then I head right for the library and Giles. He's sitting in his office havin a cup of tea. I don't know how he can stand to drink so much of that shit. It just tastes like river water to me, but hey, whatever gets him through the day, right? Lookin around I don't see Red or Xand anywhere but I wanna be sure. "Hey Giles," I said, "Where'd Tweedle Dee and Tweedle Dum go?"

"It was getting late and I thought it best if they went home," he responded, "and please do not refer to them that way. I know you like them more than you let on. How did your search of the crypt go?"

Alright, here's where it's gonna be a little tough. I've really grown to like Giles, but there's no way in hell I can tell him what I'm thinking. Especially if I ever drop the Buffy bomb on him. "Well," I start in not lookin at him, " That place was pretty well scorched, ya know? I didn't see anywhere that the gem coulda been stashed. If it was there, Giles, I'm thinkin it's now a little glob of charcoal." Man, this is hard. I'm still not lookin at him and I can feel his eyes on me.

"Faith," he says and I can hear him movin over towards me. "I know how much being there must have upset you. I always felt that you and Buffy had a special connection, something more than just both of you being slayers. I want you to know that I think it was very brave of you to go to that crypt by yourself and spare the rest of us the pain you must surely have felt."

Well now I really feel like shit, but I can't let him know so I use this as the opening I need. "Yea well, it did get me thinkin. Giles, if I die what'll happen to the slayer line? Say a vamp gets lucky one night and I get bit or even turned, what'll happen after that?"

Giles gives me a tender look and said, "Faith, if you were to die, for whatever reason, a new slayer would be called. That's the way it has always been and always will be. Just as when Buffy died, Kendra was called and after her yourself"

"But what about you," I asked. I was looking straight at him now, cause I really wanted to know. "Would you be the new slayer's Watcher?"

Now his look is so sad I wish I hadn't asked the question. "No Faith," he responds quietly, "That would be the end for me. After losing Buffy, if I lost you too, that would be it for me. I would just retire and move back to my family's estate in England. No one could ever replace the two of you for me."

Damn, I could feel my eyes tearing up and wanted to run out here right now, but I needed some more questions answered. "And if I was turned?" I ask in a low voice.

He takes off his glasses and starts cleaning them, they gotta be the cleanest lens in the good old US of A. Slowly he says, "There have been accounts, twice I believe, recorded in the Watcher Diaries of slayers that had been turned into vampires."

"No shit," I say surprised. "Why haven't you ever told us about them?"

"Because my dear," he continued, "They are not pretty stories. They end with the slayers being dispatched by their own Watchers, who had to stake them to give them peace."

"Why?" I asked. "Did they go on a rampage and shit? Killing everything in sight?"

He gives a little smile and says, "No Faith. Nothing as dramatic as that. Their Watchers knew that there is nothing as dangerous to the world as a slayer turned vampire. You see, being turned would increase all of the slayer abilities tenfold. If they had not acted so quickly to destroy them, there would have been no stopping them. No matter what they wanted to do there would have been no force on earth that could stand before them. It was simple good fortune that in both cases the slayers came back to their Watchers and the Watchers were able to dispatch them quickly when they rested."

"Are you shittin me?" I practically scream in outrage. "They didn't even give those girls a chance? They just snuck up while they were sleeping and jabbed a stake through their hearts? Tell me your not serious, Giles. Could you do that to me? Could you of done that to Buffy?"

Giles looks surprised at my outburst, reaching out to me he says, "Faith you of all people must understand that it had to be done and done quickly."

I flinched away from his hand. "No Giles, I do not have to understand," I hiss back at him. "How do you know they were evil? They weren't even given a chance. How do you know that the slayer essence in them didn't give them some kinda control over the demon? They coulda been good, they coulda been just like, I don't know, super slayers or something and you people just throw them away like they didn't matter. Those girls gave their lives fightin evil and in the end you abandoned them."

Giles was looking upset now, "Faith this is why I never brought the subject up to you or Buffy. Yes, it is possible that the slayer essence would give some immunity to the pull of the demon. But, and I must be clear on this, it is very unlikely. It would be a continuous battle between the slayer and the demon inside those girls. It would have taken a tremendous amount of inner strength and fortitude for them to maintain control indefinitely. Surely you see that it was a kindness to save them that torment?"

I can't believe this. Those bastards killed those girls without a second thought. I gotta get outta here or I'm gonna say or do something we both will regret. "No Giles," I tell him lookin him straight in the eyes. "That's NOT what I see. It's not even close to what I see. I've gotta patrol." Then I left, slamming the doors open so hard the left one broke off of its hinges.


	18. Chapter 18

Chapter 18: Helping the Helpless

Disclaimer: I do not own any of the recognizable characters contained within.

That would be Joss Whedon, Mutant Enemy, etc….

I stormed away from the school, headed back home and damn am I pissed off. Thinking of home made me think about Joyce, though. I wonder what she would say if she knew that her boyfriend would stake her daughter if he knew she was a vamp? Not that I'm gonna say anything. It's bad enough that _I_ had to listen to that crap. There's no way I'm laying that shit on Joyce and if Giles knows what's good for him, I better never find out he told her. Man, I just cannot believe that shit. Those old bastards didn't even give the slayers a chance. Didn't wait to see what they were like. I wonder if they even talked to them? Probably as soon as they found out they were bit, told em to go get some rest they'd 'sort it all out later', and then POW, sneak in and dust em when they're sleepin. My whole body is screaming with the need to pound the crap outta something.

I realize I can't go home right now. I'm just too worked up. If I don't find a way to get rid of all this frustration, Joyce is gonna know something's wrong. Yea, alright, there's a manhole cover up ahead and I can use that to drop down into the sewers. There's always something to hunt down there. I dunno, maybe it has to do with being that much closer to the Hellmouth, but a lot of demonic types stay down there. A coupla slays and I should be good to go. I can go home, get a shower, have a nice dinner with Joyce, and then hit the streets for patrol by 9 o'clock. Sounds like a plan anyway. I think I'll swing through downtown tonight while patrolling. I haven't been through there in awhile and maybe I can catch a stray vamp or two.

When I drop into the sewer, I can feel something's wrong right away. My spine starts tingling and I can hear something being drug down the tunnel away from me. I close my eyes and listen hard. There's the muffled sound of a girls voice crying. Yea baby, something needs killin and I am so just the girl for that. I open my eyes and start movin in the direction the voice was comin from. At first I'm at a fast walk, still listening and letting the sounds guide me. My eyes have adjusted to the lack of light down here so I don't have any problems avoiding all the junk that's laying around. There's some funky shit that finds its way into the Sunnydale sewers, let me tell ya. One time me an B were tracking these big ass green demons, I forget what they were called, anyway we come around a bend in the sewer pipes to a large open area. Sitting along the walls are tables, couches and chairs, you know, set up like a god damn apartment or something. And get this, right in the middle of it is a friggin hot tub. You believe that? Something set up a hot tub in the middle of the slimy, smelly Sunnydale sewers. Takes all kinds I guess.

I keep trailing the sounds comin from in front of me, picking up my pace and I'm gaining on whatever it is. Through the gloom surroundin me, I start to see the outline of what I'm chasin. It's big, standing about seven feet tall, even though it's kinda hunched over. It's got these two horns comin outta its head that are kinda twisted and long arms that end in sharp claws. Its right hand, claw, whatever, has the end of the big sack it's dragging in it and whoever is inside is squirmin around. I can hear the girl's cries easier now and I let the sound of her panic feed my anger. There's a shelf that runs along the tunnel we're in about shoulder high on the left wall, so I jump up on it and start closing the distance between us.

I'm kinda runnin on my toes along the ledge so that it can't hear my footsteps. Slayer training, ya gotta love it. When I get to about four feet away from it, I say, "Hey, big, bad, and ugly, what's in the bag?" Then as it turns towards me I jump kick it in its face. The thing lets go of the bag as I hear the bones in its face break and it covers its mouth where blue demon blood has started to gush out. It staggers back a few steps and I jump down between it and the bag. It lets out a roar and charges me. Yea, this is what I needed. We start trading punches and I'm steadily movin it back farther away from the girl in the bag. I'm not goin for the kill right away. Uh, uh, no way baby. I want this to last a little. I'm starting to feel the groove and the frustration with Giles and his Watcher buddies is startin to fade some. The more I hammer on this thing the better I feel and I'm all about the feel good. Pretty soon my demon buddy is beat down and I feel calmer. I snap off one of its horns and drive it through its chest, finally putting it out of my misery. I stand there bouncing on my toes a little, watchin as it slumps to the ground, makin sure it's not gonna get back up, when I hear the girl in the bag start to struggle again.

I turn back to the bag and notice I got about a half dozen slices on me. That demon got in more hits with those claws than I thought. My tank top has a big rip across my breast and there's blood trickling outta a hole on my side. I'm not really lookin my best and I sure as hell don't feel like explaining what happened down here. I open the bag and see a girl about my age. She has light brown hair and blue eyes that are starin at me kinda glazed over. "You alright," I ask, while checkin her over to see if she's hurt. She just stares through me, must be in shock. I can't see anything wrong with her so I say "Come on, let's get outta here." I stand her up and we work our way out of the sewers and back topside.

When we're back in the fresh air, she seems to be comin around a little and as soon as I let go of her arm, she takes off like a bat outta hell. Yea, that figures. Not even a 'thank you for saving my helpless ass,' or anything. Just take off and leave me here bleedin. Well, not really bleedin that much, cause I started healing up already, but still, it's the thought right? Screw it. I shake my head and notice it's almost sunset. I better get on home and see about that shower and dinner. I have a little smile on my face as I think about that. When Joyce sees me she'll be all concerned and want to take care of me, it's a good feeling, ya know? Not that I need takin care of, just knowing that someone wants to.

Thinking about someone wanting to care of me starts me wondering about B again. Is that what she wants, to be able to take care of me? Can she really care about me like that? I mean, yea, it's what I wanted. Almost what I needed from her, but she never really got that until after she was turned or at least she never let me know about it. Great, now I'm getting confused again. Ugh! Okay that's it. I'm putting all this shit outta my head until I see her tonight, if I see her tonight. I run my finger across the gem of Amara in my pocket. I'm gonna get some straight answers from B when I see her, then I'll decide where I go from there. No matter what, this shit is gonna end soon, one way or another it has to.

**************************************************************

Later on I'm out on patrol, just walking around the downtown area. My mind is kinda drifting over the last coupla hours. When I got back home, Joyce was all caring and concerned like I thought she'd be. She made a big fuss over the scratches that were still not healed completely. I told her it was no big deal, but I still let her wash them out and put bandages on them. Like I said, it just feels good to have someone want to take care of you, ya know? I never really had someone to care like that, so I let her do it whenever I can. I think it's good for her too. I know I'll never replace Buffy for her, but I think it helps that she still has someone to look out for. I know, I don't need her lookin out for me, but I like it and it makes her happy so what's the harm?

We had a great dinner. Joyce makes a pot roast that melts in your mouth and her mashed potatoes never have any lumps. We ate and talked for a while, than she brings up that Giles had called lookin for me and she said he seemed upset. Yea, I just bet he was upset. Not nearly as upset as I was. I could feel my shoulders startin to tense up as I asked, "What did he have to say?"

"Just that he was worried about something you guy's talked about today. Some slayer business or something," she replied. "What did you talk about?"

I started to relax a little. Looks like Giles is gonna live a little longer, since he didn't tell Joyce about those two other slayers. "We just talked about some of the old Watcher diaries and some of the stuff in them. Those old Watchers didn't really seem to care about the girls and it kinda got to me, that's all. I'll talk to G tomorrow," I told her. I wanted this conversation to end pretty quick, cause Joyce is really good at putting two and two together. She won't always let on what she knows, but she knows a lot of what goes on.

"Okay, honey," she says, "as long as you guys work it out. It would be silly to let something that happened a long time ago come between you."

See I told ya she was pretty good at the addition. "Nah, it's all good Joyce. We just had a difference of opinion, that's all." Then I add, "Hey, dinner was great but I wanna start on patrol. I haven't been through the downtown area in a while and I don't want the vamps thinkin their safe there, right?"

She gives me a thoughtful look then says, "Sure Faith, just remember, if you need to talk I'm here for you. Now go on and go. I'll clean up and probably turn in early. It's been a busy week at the gallery."

So I took off and that's how I'm here walking past this alley, when I hear the sounds of a scuffle coming from back in the shadows. Of course, right on cue my slayer senses start goin off, so I head on down the alley. The old familiar tingles start up with that new twist to it. B's here somewhere, probably trailing me to make sure I don't get hurt or some shit. Man, she knows how to piss me off. I'm no baby and I sure as shit don't need no babysitter. I mean, come on, slayer here, right. As I'm walking in, a young couple comes running out past me so quick I don't think they even saw me. I still hear sounds comin from the shadows, but instead of a scuffle it sounds more like a slurping. Shit. That sounds like a vamp feeding. What the hell? If the victims got away, who the hell is it feeding on? I'm far enough down the alley now that I can see a small female has a rough lookin guy pressed up against the wall. She's leaning up into him and he's sagging farther down as I watch. Running up to them I throw the vamp outta the way as the guy collapses to the ground, pale, drained and dead.

I turn back to the vamp with a stake in my hand and fury in my blood. I knew I was neglecting this area too much, damn it. "You just bought yourself a ticket to hell, bitch," I hiss out while moving into a fighting stance. That's when I see who it is and my blood goes from boiling hot to ice water cold in an instant.

"Faith, baby, it's not what it looks like. Come on, you believe me don'tcha?" Buffy asks. She's standing there lookin at me like she doesn't have a care in the world, with a little smile on her lips. I'm thinking, 'this is it, we're finally gonna find out, we're gonna have our final dance'.

Helping the Helpless


	19. Chapter 19

Chapter 19: Rooftops

Disclaimer: I do not own any of the recognizable characters contained within.

That would be Joss Whedon, Mutant Enemy, etc….

Shit. I can't believe it. She lied to me. She friggin _lied_ to me! "Bullshit Buffy," I growl out. "It's exactly what it looks like." Then I lunge at her, trying to stake her quick before I lose my advantage. Buffy side steps my lunge, turning round and hitting me between my shoulder blades as I go past. The blow drives me into the alley wall, but I get my hands up in time to absorb the shock. Rebounding off the wall, I twist around and fire a front kick to her chest. She slaps it to the side so I go with the motion and turn, sending a spinning crescent kick to the side of her face. The force of the kick sends her flying back into some trash cans across the alley. As I finish the kick and return to my fighting stance, Buffy pulls herself up out of the garbage.

"Looks like someone's been practicing," she says smugly. "This is gonna be fun. Come on, give us a kiss."

She got up way to quickly for my liking. That kick should have had her down for a few minutes at least. Nothing I can do about it now, though. She broke the rules. You do not kill innocents. If you do and you're a demon, then I take you out. Period. I keep my eyes on Buffy as she slides into a short boxer stance. She's leaning a little forward on the balls of her feet for balance. I've seen her fight from this stance before so I know what's comin. She's gonna wait for me to attack her again so she can slide to my side and go for my ribs. That's alright, I'll just wait here and make her come to me.

She gets a little pout to her lips and says, "What are you waiting for Faith? Change your mind about takin me out?" That's another one of her tricks. She likes to bait whatever she's fighting, it makes them reckless. Well it's not gonna work on this girl. This is gonna be hard enough without me acting stupid.

"Nah babe," I tell her with a smirk. "Just waiting for ya to get your slow, dead ass ready." Oops. Didn't I just say I wasn't gonna act stupid.

Uh, oh. Buffy gets an angry look on her face and her eyes flash yellow for a moment. That probably wasn't one of my smarter moves. Suddenly she comes at me like a blur. I can barely see her. She's slammin me around the alley like a ragdoll. I can feel fists and feet landing on every part of my body, all the while our slayer connection keeps buzzin through me. It feels more intense at each point of contact. Wait a minute! It's not more intense at the contact, I'm feeling it _before_ the contact. Christ, I hope this works. I sure as shit need something to help me.

I let myself fully feel the connection with Buffy as she comes at me again. There! Left side block, right side block, knee block, duck. She pauses a moment with a confused look on her face. I smile at her and waggle my eyebrows. "I dunno B, looks like rigor mortis is settin in," I say to her. Sometimes I just can't help myself, ya know? Now she's pissed again and comes at me faster, but it's all good. I got the system now. I can do this. I can beat her. Instead of just blocking I start landing hits and she's gettin freaked by it.

"You shouldn't be able to do that," she says while still throwing punches and trying to avoid mine. "No one is that good or that lucky."

"What can I say, I'm one of a kind," I answer back. I see the opening now. I can throw a double punch, kick combo and follow up with my stake. She'll be nothing but dust in the wind. There it is, my opening. I start my stake hand forward and suddenly I stop, my sight blurring up. I….I can't do it. I can feel the tears as they start down my cheeks, mixing with the sweat and running over the bruises from our fight. Buffy looks at me with tender eyes and steps back. I let my arms sag to my sides, dropping the stake on the ground. I let my head fall forward till my chin is on my chest and slowly wrap my arms around my stomach. Some big bad slayer, huh? Standin here in a dark alley, crying my eyes out cause I can't bring myself to stake a vamp. Pretty pathetic.

"Enough Faith," she says to me. "I didn't want to fight you anyway. It really wasn't what it looked like. I mean, yea, it was what it looked like, but it wasn't as bad as you think. Arrgh. That didn't come out right." She starts moving slowly toward me. "Look, can you please just come with me and I'll explain everything you saw? I don't want to talk about it here." Now she takes one of my hands in hers and I feel our bond flare up even more. My breath catches in my throat and all I can do is nod my head. I'm still lookin down at the ground so she uses her other hand to slowly tilt my head up by my chin. Then she uses her thumb to gently wipe away the tears from under my eyes. She's staring at me with her head slightly tilted and a little smile on her lips. A smile just for me. "It'll all make sense after we talk Faith," she says, "I promise. Trust me?"

I don't say anything to her as she picks up the stake I dropped and puts it in my back pocket. She then starts to lead me deeper into the alley, still holding my hand like I'm a lost child. I do feel a little lost right now, but trust her? Is she shitting me? I don't know if I trust her. I don't know much of anything right now except that I couldn't kill her. She just fed from a human and I couldn't kill her. Now I'm gonna go with her wherever she wants and listen to her. Man, have I told ya how much I'm screwed?

Buffy leads me to the back of the alley where a fire escape leads up to the roof. The ladder is hanging a good fifteen feet over our heads. She lets go of my hand and leaping straight up, she's got hold of the bottom rung and is pulling it down to where I can reach it. "Come on," she says, "I want to go up on the roof. The view is pretty good and the fresh air will help cool you off. I don't know about you, but I would kill for a shower right about now."

I give a small chuckle, but there's no humor in it. "Well, you've already killed, so I guess the shower'll be next, right?"I say. My eyes have stopped their watering and I got myself pretty well back under control. I shoulda known I couldn't stake her. I love her. Even as an undead creature of the night, there's still enough of B left in her that I just can't do it.

Buffy gives me a look like, 'I said I'd explain' then starts climbing the fire escape without another glance back. And there I am, following along just like a good little pet. Pathetic.

When we reach the roof I start walkin towards the edge, trying to get some distance between us. It's always harder for me when we're standing close together. I always lose my perspective or something I dunno, maybe it's just part of being under her spell.

Buffy's standing a little ways behind me and she starts talking, "Faith, first of all, yea, I drained that guy in the alley, but he wasn't an innocent."

I look back over my shoulder at her for a minute then turn back to the edge.

"He really wasn't, Faith," she continues. "I was sorta looking for you tonight, hoping we could talk some more. I was using our connection to find you as I walked along the rooftops, when the guy you saw me drain forced that couple into the alley by gun point. I stood over top of them on the roof and listened in. Faith, he was gonna rob them, kill the boyfriend and rape the girl before he killed her. There was no way I was gonna let that happen. So, I dropped down, grabbed his gun and threw it up here, let the couple go and then made sure he would never have the chance to hurt someone else ever again."

I turned back round to face her and saw her pointing at a small handgun that was lying on the roof over by where the fire escape was. I didn't notice it when we climbed up, but I wasn't really looking for it either. I said, "What, you're like providing a public service? Acting as judge, jury and executioner now? The slayer doesn't kill humans, B. We protect them, not eat them."

She gives her head a little shake and slowly lets her vampire face come through. "Faith, I am what I am. I didn't ask for it. I didn't go looking for it and I sure as hell didn't want it. I AM A VAMPIRE. I need to drink blood to survive. At least the slayer part of me keeps me from going on a killing spree, stops me from preying on the innocents that live here. And if I can keep the human scum population down at the same time, why shouldn't I? Why should my mom or Willow or any other women not be able to go out at night without being afraid? Why should anyone have to be a victim if I can stop it? It's bad enough with all the demons around here, why should they have to put up with criminals attacking innocent people?"

I really didn't have an answer for her. Everything I was taught since becoming a slayer was screaming that she was wrong. It wasn't our place to try and keep the human devils in check. That none of what she was saying mattered. But a part of me was agreeing with her, saying she was abso-friggin -lutely right. I couldn't help it. My mind flashed back to my entire life while I was growing up. The criminals on the street would cut your throat as soon as look at you. All the boyfriends my mom had that took too much of an interest in me. The way she drank so much she didn't see it and wouldn't believe me when I told her, so she beat me for it. The way she finally didn't even care it was happening.

That part of me was growing louder, shouting down the lessons learned from my first Watcher and Giles. It was telling me that I could make a difference. I could stop my life from happening to somebody else. Shit, Buffy was already doing it, making the streets safer for everyone. Why shouldn't I help her? I turned back to the rooftop edge and looked out over the streets of Sunnydale.

"B,….Buffy," I said in a quiet voice, "If we do this…..if I do this, what happens next?" My voice was barely above a whisper, but I knew she could hear me.

She answered just as softly, "Simple, the slayer helps control the demon and we both get everything we've always wanted."

"I have some things I need to get settled, so it won't be right away," I told her. "But I'd like to stay with you tonight, if you don't mind. Do you have a place I can clean up?"

I felt her arms wrap around me from behind as she leaned into my back. Her lips next to my ear sent shivers running through my body as she said, "Yea, I have a place. And I always wanted you to stay with me. I'm so sorry I couldn't admit it before."

Rooftop


	20. Chapter 20

Chapter 20: Faith's Seduction

Disclaimer: I do not own any of the recognizable characters contained within.

That would be Joss Whedon, Mutant Enemy, etc….

We left the rooftop after Buffy dropped her whole philosophy of unlife on me. I gotta tell ya, my head is still reeling from that conversation, but I think she may be right. There's no way anyone should hafta go through what I did and if we can stop it, we should. I don't wanna think about this shit anymore tonight, so I make my mind go blank as B leads us across town to USC Sunnydale and into one of the dorms. The building is kinda empty since most of the students are away on break. We go up to the third floor which is deserted and she takes me into one of the rooms.

"There's a shower in here," she says indicating a door to the right. "I'm gonna change while you shower up, …..call if you need a hand." She's giving me her Buffy sexy smile as she said the last and it sends my heart racing again.

"It's cool, B," I say back, trying to not show her how bad I really want her. "I've been washing myself a long time now, I think I can handle it." Man, this is really weird. I use to be the one doin the flirting, ya know? Makin her all blushy and nervous. Now, she's got me so turned around I can barely look at her without my whole body flushing. It seems almost every comment she makes has a sexual tension under it and it's makin me feel like a junior high school virgin talking to the teacher I'm crushin on or something. Passive. That's it. She's makin me feel passive and that's one thing I've never done well. Ever since I decided to stop takin shit from anyone, I've always been a top. Always been in control. Now she's got me squirmin around, feelin like I'm not. Not to mention those tingles from the connection we share. They're a constant buzz along my skin, washing over me in waves. Christ, just being this close to her feels like it's gonna make me pop.

"Just saying," she shrugs.

I go into the bathroom and there's a white satin nightgown hanging on the back of the door. Clean towels are in a stack on a little shelf above the toilet so I won't have to worry about drip drying. I turn the faucets on full blast and hot then start shucking my clothes. I'll have to wear them again tomorrow until I get back home to change, but at least I don't hafta sleep in them. Ha! Like there's gonna be any sleepin goin on. I'm not sure I could close my eyes without jumpin every time B moves. I still don't trust her not to get peckish in the middle of the night and decide on a snack in bed.

I pull the curtain to the side and ease my bruised body under the water spray. Damn, if B didn't put a hurtin on me, before I figured out how to stop her. Now that I'm thinlin about it though, she didn't really hurt me that much. I mean, no more than she would when we were sparing. There's no broken bones or sprained muscles. It's almost like she was being careful not to go for any permanent damage. Lucky for me, huh? Just one more way she's showing me that she cares for me I guess. She could try sayin it with a greeting card sometime, instead of sayin it with her fists. Well, we always were more action girls than anything else.

The hot water is soothing my sore muscles and I feel myself relaxing slowly, when I hear the door open quietly. I tense right back up wondering what the hell is going on now.

"I brought you some shampoo, Faith," Buffy says. "I'll leave it here on the sink." I can see her image through the shower curtain standing by the door. "Don't worry, I won't peek." Is she laughing at me? God damn it, I think she is.

"Yea B, sure," I answer back. "I always knew you been tryin to check out my goodies." I gotta keep trying to turn this around so I'm back in control. Riiigghht, somehow I don't think it's gonna work.

"Well, I figure since you were always interested in mine, I would return the favor," she says back and I can tell she's closer now. I'm starting to panic a little now. Yea, I wanna be with her. Yea, I love her, but now that we're here I need to take it slow. Take some time to be really sure.

"Look B, I just wanna finish getting cleaned up then I'll be out and we can talk some more, alright?" My voice is sounding a little strained and I think she can tell I'm nervous.

"Yea, it's okay, I'll see you when you come out, Faith," she said then walked out and closed the door.

I let out a breath I didn't even realize I was holding and slump back against the shower wall. Man, how am I gonna do this? I drag my hands up through my hair then reach out and get the shampoo she brought me. It's a vanilla scented herbal mixture, 'guaranteed to bring bounce and shine to your hair'. Just like B to have top of the line hair products, even after she died. She's probably got a whole line of moisturizing shit too. Me, I just use whatever is around. I've even used regular soap on occasion, ya know, the full body treatment. Sitting next to the shampoo is a hair dryer. Think she's trying to tell me something? Oh well, I start shampooing away the stress of the day as my body relaxes again and there's no more interruptions from B.

When I'm finished, I step out and start drying off in front of the mirror. The bruises from earlier are already starting to fade away. Gotta love that slayer healing, right? I pick up the hair dryer thinking, 'what the hell, she went to the trouble of bringing it in for me'. As I'm blow drying my hair I start thinking about Buffy again and how I want this night to go. I don't want her to think she's calling the shots, cause that'll just lead to trouble. And I don't want it to go too far either. I was serious when I said I had things to square away. I don't wanna just leave Joyce hanging, not after she already lost Buffy. I should probably do something about Giles too. I mean, yea, we had a fight about what those old Watcher dudes did, but on the whole G and me got along pretty good. He looked after me the best he could when he was reinstated as my Watcher.

Finishing up in the bathroom, I come back into the room to find B sorta curled up on the bed. She's wearing this wicked ass pair of black leather pants that look painted on. They're clinging to her like a second skin, showing off the muscles in her thighs and the tight curve of her ass. She's got a tight black sleeveless tank top on and the muscles in her arms are being shown off to their best advantage. Damn, my breath catches in my throat as I see once again how beautiful she is. Her blonde hair is down and curled. Her green eyes are watching me like a cat eyeing up a mouse it wants to eat. Oh man,….. B eatin me….. there's a thought that immediately starts my blood runnin hot and heavy. I can feel myself getting worked up and I remember to start breathin again. Buffy might not need to breath, but for me a lack of oxygen can still be an issue.

"Faith," she says in a low voice, "you look so beautiful. Why don't you come on over here?"

I realize I've been standing here, frozen while all those thoughts ran through my head. I move over to the bed and sit down on the edge. We gotta get some shit between us straightened out and if I don't do it now, I might not be able to later. "B," I say while trying to get my hornies under control, "We gotta be clear on a coupla things, before this goes any farther. What is it you want from me? You think I'm gonna be like your Renfield or something? Someone to snack on occasionally and watch your back during daylight hours? If that's all this is for you, we need to stop right now. Just cause I couldn't stake you earlier don't mean I won't do it now. If you're thinking for one minute that I'm just gonna roll over for you and be a puppet, you got another think comin. I don't do lap dog and I'm not gonna start for anyone."

She's sitting there looking at me with a small smile on her face like she knows a secret I don't and it's startin to piss me off a little.

"You done?" she asks all innocent like.

"Almost, just keep your panties on," I say back harsher than I really mean. "I meant it when I said I have some things to settle. I wanna be with you, Christ, I've always wanted to be with you, but I'm not gonna let you turn me tonight. Got it? If that's not good enough, I'll get changed and just head out right now."

"Alright Faith, my turn," she says to me. She sits up on her knees and looks me right in my eyes. "What I want, what I've wanted since I first saw you in that alley at the Bronze, is for you to be with me. Really be with me and only me. Not for a day, not for a night, not for after slayage hornies and sure as hell not for 'get some get gone'. I want you forever. I couldn't bring myself to tell you before cause I was so tied up in what everyone else would think. My mom, my watcher, my friends, now that doesn't matter anymore. You're more than food to me. We have a connection that goes beyond anything in the world. We're the same and I want us to be exactly the same. I want you to become a vampire too. My vampire. Then we can stay together always. Fighting together, being together, loving together. I want you to be someone that'll never leave me, no matter what. Can you do that? Can you be that?"

What do you do when all of a sudden you're handed everything you've always wanted, but never had? Don't know about you, but I was gonna grab hold of it and hang on so tight they would need to pry it from my cold dead hands to take it away. In this case that wasn't gonna be just a saying. I didn't know how to explain to her how much I wanted the same things, how much what she said meant to me. So instead of talking I just crushed my lips to hers, feeling again the coolness of them warm as I deepened the kiss.

Leaning into her I pushed my tongue between her lips and into her mouth. I could feel her smile against my lips as the kiss continued, our tongues wrestling playfully for dominance. Her hands ran up my back and into my hair, pulling my head closer to her. My hands were busy rubbing up and down her sides almost on their own. My whole body just wanted to feel her, feel our connection which was revving up like a jet engine before takeoff. Our lips slid apart as she began to nuzzle down my jaw to my ear. I let my head fall back giving her more room and closed my eyes just enjoying the feeling of her lips on my skin. My hands continued stroking up and down her sides and worked their way under the tank top without me even thinking about it. The first touch of her smooth skin under my palms made my heart speed up even more. As with our lips, her skin soon warmed from the contact with my hands and all I want to do is warm her whole body the same way. Rub every inch of my skin over every inch of hers to give her back some warmth.

When I feel her lightly nibbling at my throat, I pull away a little and look at her with a smile. "Buffy, no biting! Promise me?

She pulls away from my neck with the sexiest grin I've ever seen and says, "Well…..I'll promise no drawing blood…..until you want me to." Then she tilts her head to the side and her grin turns into a smirk, "Good enough?"

"Yea," I smile back. "Good enough." Then I fall back into her arms and push her back onto the bed. I slide my body along hers till I'm laying on her and we slowly start rocking against each other. She slides the nightgown down off my shoulders and lets out a little moan as her hands run over my bare skin. I'm moaning into her shoulder as I kiss my way up her neck to the soft spot just below her ear, lightly nipping as I go.

With one hand I reach over and shut off the light on the bedside table so we can begin living all those fantasies I've ever had.

Faith's Seduction


	21. Chapter 21

Chapter 21: Things Look Different in the Light of Day

Disclaimer: I do not own any of the recognizable characters contained within.

That would be Joss Whedon, Mutant Enemy, etc….

I wake up slowly, stretching out my arms and legs, just enjoying the feeling as all my muscles pull tight then loosen. Christ, I haven't felt this good in years, if ever. I feel the small smile that's on my lips as I'm remembering the dream I had. Waitaminute! That wasn't a dream, was it? I snap my head around and find I'm alone in a strange bed. Then the memory of last night comes back. Going in the alley, finding Buffy there, her telling me about the would be rapist/murderer that she took care of. Then coming here to the dorms and spendin the night. Shit, what did I get myself into? Still lookin around the room wondering where the hell B could be. After that speech she gave me about carin and sharing forever last night, I woulda thought she'd at least stay till I woke up.

I shake my head thinking, I can't believe I fell for that crap. She used me. I let her use me. She laid out a coupla lines that she knew I always wanted to hear and I just gobbled it up. Forever my ass. I cannot believe what an idiot I was. How many times do I gotta keep telling myself, she's a friggin vampire…., a goddamn vampire with no regard for pathetic human feelings. And me? I know better, better than most people anyway, that you never trust a demon. No matter how sincere they seem, or gentle, or beautiful, or loving…………fuck. I can't help it. I am a lap dog. At least, her lap dog.

Shit, I gotta get outta here. I get up and start pulling on my clothes. As I pull my pants up I push the pockets in to straighten them out and feel something in one. Pulling it out I see the gem of Amara sitting in its gold ring setting. I forgot all about it last night what with being caught up in everything that was goin on. After I go home and change I'll head over to the school and give it to Giles. I also think I owe him an apology. I should do that first before breaking his heart with the news that Buffy is a vamp and still in town. I'm kinda wishing I told him sooner, but I'll just have to deal with it now.

As I sit on the edge of the bed to pull my boots on, I notice a piece of paper lying up against the pillow. Its pink with a big heart drawn on the bottom. In the center of the heart is a lipstick imprint. I can see from here that's its Buffy's shade of lipstick. She must of actually kissed the heart after drawing it. Just one more way to rub my feelings in my face. Sick bitch. I don't remember her being this sadistic when she was alive. A stuck up prude sometimes, but never evil. Must be all part of the vamp package thing I guess.

I open up the note figuring I might as well have the last of my heart shredded away now and start to read:

Dearest Faith,

I may not be there when you wake up, I wanted to run an errand before you left. So DO NOT LEAVE. I'll be back as soon as I can. Don't worry about anyone coming in the room. No one on this floor will be back for another week or so. If you wake up before I get back, watch some TV or something. I won't be that long.

Last night meant everything to me that it meant to you.

Love,

Your B

Well I guess I really blew that one out of proportion, huh. Why do I always have to think the worst when I don't know what's going on? 'Love, Your B', I like the sound of that. I feel the warmth flooding through my body again and I can feel my smile comin back to my lips as I re-read the letter she left. Ran an errand? What kinda of errand would she hafta go out in the day time for? And speaking of which, where exactly could she go? One way to find out, right? I'll just kick back for a while and ask her when she gets back. Maybe I'll have a little surprise for her too, heh, heh.

About twenty minutes later I'm sittin on the bed, flipping through the channels on the TV. It's kinda lame since there's no cable, but it's not like there's anything else to do while I wait. I hear the door handle turn and look over to see Buffy comin through the door with two bags and a tray with a coupla cups on it. The smell of coffee makes its way over to me and I almost start drooling on the spot.

"Hey there," she smiles over at me.

"Hey yourself," I smile back. I can't help smiling at her and its makin me feel like such a dork. "Whatcha got there B?"

She walks over to the bedside table and starts putting the bags and cups down. "I knew you'd be hungry after all the exercise last night, so I ran out and got you some coffee and donuts."

"You went to a coffee house? In the daylight? Why aren't you like all burnt toasty and stuff?" I ask her, though the fact she would do it for me started up the tingles again.

She gives a little laugh and says, "I went to Willies. You know he has underground access and is open almost all the time. His coffee isn't too bad as I remember and I know you'll eat just about anything." She's got an eyebrow raised so I know she's flirting as well as teasing.

"Well I do have standards about what I'll put in my mouth," I tease back. Grabbin a cup of coffee I say, "You're just lucky you meet the standards."

She laughs again and sits down next to me to give my lips a quick kiss. Taking a sip of my drink I ask her, "So, is this where ya been staying?"

"No," she answers. "I have a couple of different places to stay, but I'm thinking of just moving into Angel's old mansion. Since I changed, my finances have drastically improved, so I figure I'll buy it and just be known as a recluse. Besides, I want someplace nice for you to stay when you join me." She's giving me the smile again and I have to look away for a minute, so I reach over for a donut. I'm startin to think about her and the sunlight again and I don't want her seein the thoughts runnin through my head. Not just yet at least. Mmmm, chocolate crème filled, she remembered my favorite kind.

"Your finances improved? What, did ya get a new job or something? I didn't know 'Vamp' was a payin profession," I said before taking a bite. I'm teasing her a little, but curious at the same time. If she's getting money from somewhere I want to be sure it's on the up and up. I don't want her to be hiring out as some kinda demon muscle for the supernatural or anything.

She blows out a breath that we both know she doesn't need and says, "Look Faith," and I start thinkin 'okay, here it is, here comes the shit storm. Instead she goes on, "you know the guy last night was going to hurt that couple, right. Well, the thing is, I kinda been patrolling for human criminals as well as demons lately and before you get all screechy and self righteous, I mean the real criminals. Murderers, rapist, thieves, child molesters, yada,yada,yada. Anyone that tries to prey on weaker people, I prey on them."

I start in on my third donut and second cup of coffee while I keep listening.

"And no I don't kill all of them," she says, "but I do take what they have as the spoils of war. I figure it as payback for all their previous victims. So I've been able to build up a lot of cash pretty quick. Some of those guys had stacks of money just laying around their houses." She laughed again, "I just went in and helped myself, it's not like they were going to need it anymore, right?"

"So, what," I ask, "you need me to handle the deals for ya?" I'm still thinking she just wants to use me. Pretty screwed up, huh?

She looks over at me shakin her head. "Nah, I got that covered already. You can find more than just food and coffee at Willies. To tell you the truth, he was so happy that I wasn't there to beat him up again that he would have done anything I asked. He set me up with a guy who'll handle all the day to day stuff. You know, bank accounts, credit cards, fake background if I want it. All for a fee of course, but that's alright. As long as he can keep his mouth shut. And if he can't that'll make him a criminal in my book." She finished with a big smile and I can't really tell if she's serious or not. I jumped to conclusions earlier when I thought she ran out on me and I ain't gonna make that mistake again, so I decide she's only teasing me and move on to something I been thinking about.

"Look B, I gotta get gone for a while. Ya know, check in with Joyce and Giles so they don't get worried and all. But, I wanna talk to you about something before I go," I say as I push the rest of the food away from me.

"Hmm, bailing on me already?" She's teasing me again and it's weird how it's an echo of my own earlier thoughts. I can see in her eyes, she's kinda serious at the same time.

"Sorry, babe," I tell her, "That ain't gonna happen. You fed me so now I'll follow you everywhere." Now I'm teasing her.

"Will you really?" she asks and now she's serious again. Damn, I don't answer her, she knows what she means to me, I just lean over and kiss her long and deep instead.

"Whatda you think?" I ask her and she starts to grin at me. "Anyway B, as I was saying before you so pleasantly interrupted me," and now she makes a locking motion over her lips and throws her hand over her shoulder. What a goof ball. "Have you ever heard of something called the gem of Amara?"

She gives me a funny look and says slowly, "Yea, some vamps have been talking about it and I might have suggested some places they could look. I always liked sparkly things you know. The vamps that got me might have been looking for it too. Why?"

"According to Giles it may have been hidden here in Sunnyhell a long time ago." I tell her. "It's supposed to be able to protect the wearer, if it's a vamp, from the normal stuff that kills it. Like sunlight, stakes, fire, beheading, though I'm not sure about the beheading. I was wondering if you knew anything about it is all."

She's still looking at me way to closely. Shit, she knows I'm holding something back from her. I never could lie to her and have her buy it, especially since I can't even look her in her eyes right now.

"Well not as much as you and Giles it seems. Why, does he want you to look for it?" She asks.

"He might have had that idea," I say. I'm playing with a thread hanging out of the blanket we're sittin on and still not lookin at her.

Buffy asks, "And if you find it and give it to him, what'll he do with it, just out of curiosity?"

"He wants to destroy it so no vampire will ever be able to use it," I say and blow out my breath.

"Faith," she says gently. "Look at me." I raise my eyes back up to hers. "You already found it didn't you?" she asks me, but it really isn't a question, she already knows.

"Yea B," I say, "but I'm thinking maybe you should have it. It'll give you some protection against demon bounty hunters and shit." I'm actually thinking more along the lines of an irate Watcher that might find out she was turned. "And I really wanna watch some sunrises with you." I reach in my pocket and pull the ring out. Takin her hand in mine I slip the ring on her finger and it shrinks down to a perfect fit. Like I said before, ya gotta love the mystical shit in this job. She holds her hand up looking at the ring and I see that the green of the stone is an exact match for the color of her eyes. It's like the stone was made for her.

She gets that silly grin on her face again and says, "Does this mean we're engaged?"

I laugh and say, "Don't push it Blondie, let's just call it more than friends for now, okay?"

She gives me a big kiss and says, "Faith, I'm happy that you trust me enough to give this to me. I love you."

Now it's my turn to have the big goofy grin, "I love you too, B. I really gotta go now or the troops'll be out looking." I get up to leave and she stands with me.

"Come to the mansion tonight, Faith." She says while still admiring her ring, "I want to show you my ideas for fixing it up. We can leave from there and go on a patrol. You know, it'll be a Slay Date"

"Okay baby," I said and I still can't get that grin off of my face. I give her a quick kiss and head out the door.

As I'm walkin across the campus on my way back to Joyce's, my good mood starts slipping away. I still gotta figure out what I'm gonna tell Giles and I have no idea what to do about Joyce. She is gonna be devastated when I leave to be with Buffy. Maybe I can talk to B tonight and she'll have some ideas of how I can leave without hurtin Joyce too much. Right now I just wanna get home, shower and change so I can at least get the Giles apology outta the way. Man, why is it that with every problem that gets resolved, two more come to take its place?


	22. Chapter 22

Chapter 22: Something Wicked This Way Comes

Disclaimer: I do not own any of the recognizable characters contained within.

That would be Joss Whedon, Mutant Enemy, etc….

After I left the dorms I took my time getting home. I still didn't have a clue what I was gonna say to Joyce, but figured I would come up with something on the spot. I'm usually pretty good at that shit. Turns out I didn't hafta worry about it. When I got back to the house, Joyce had already left for work. She did leave me a note on the fridge, though.

'Dear Faith, (_she's such a sweetie_)

I had to leave for work before you came home. I hope you are all right, but if you need me, call me at work. Helen is in today and I can leave if you need me to come home. (_toldya she was a sweetie_) I left some sandwiches on a tray in the fridge since I know how you're always hungry after a night of slaying. I should be home by early afternoon and I'll see you then. Have a good day, dear.

Love Joyce

Man, that woman is so awesome. I mean, come on, she has food ready for me whenever I come in. She's always worried if I'm safe. Why couldn't I have had a mom like that? Well, I guess I should be happy I've had her for this little while. I really am gonna miss her. I grab the food outta the fridge and get a big glass of milk to chase it down with. Then I sit at the counter to eat and think over what I'm gonna tell G when I see him.

First off, I gotta get the apology out of the way. I was really pissed off at what the Watchers did to those slayers that were turned, but I shouldn't of taken it out on him. Especially when I know damn well he would fight the council on something like that. At least I'm hopin he would. I'm also gonna have to make sure he'll take care of Joyce once I'm gone. I think he will, they've been growing closer lately and they're really good for each other. Heh, it figures, I finally get the family I always wanted and now I'm about to bail on them. Well, that's the story of my life, I should know I ain't gonna get it all and if it's a choice between B and everything else, she's gonna win hands down.

**********************************************************************************

After I finished up the food, I grabbed my shower, then head over to the school. As I come in through the library doors, I see Red sittin at the computer table tappin away at the keys. "Yo Red, What's up? If your fingers move any faster, ya gonna melt those keys away." Yea, I'm bein a smartass but I can't help myself.

She looks over from what she's doin and says, "Hi Faith. Giles was looking for you earlier."

That doesn't sound good. "Well I'm here now. Where's he at?" I ask tryin to be calm.

"He had to go back to his apartment for some reference books, but he said if you showed, to ask you to meet him there," she said. Red's actin kinda funny. As soon as she saw me she went right back to her typin and hasn't looked back at me since. Now I'm getting the feelin I'm missing something.

"Okay……..," I said. "I guess I better head over and see what the boss man wants." I turned to go when Red finally looks up and calls me back.

"Faith," she starts, but there's a funny look on her face. "I'm not sure what Giles wants, but all morning he's had me looking into the local police reports. We've been so busy keeping track of the demon activity that we hadn't noticed the local crime rates are way down."

Now I'm really getting nervous. "That's of the good though, isn't it?" I ask her.

She continues, "Well all the crime rates except for missing persons. And all of them seem to have been criminals of one type or another. I don't know why, but the more we found out, the more worked up Giles became. He wouldn't say what was wrong, but the info really started wigging him out. Finally he said he was going back to his place and to have you meet him there. You got any ideas what's going on?"

Yea I had an idea, a really bad idea. It looks like G-man is putting two and two together and comin up with B. "Not a clue, Red," I tell her. "If Giles wants to share, I'll let ya know though." Then I turned and left not wantin to give anything away to Willow. She's pretty good at the addition too and if she hasn't figure it out by now, she would soon.

I got to Giles place pretty quick cause I needed to find out how much he knew. I was also wondering how much he was gonna tell me. Like I said, we had gotten closer, but I think he figured out how I really felt about B and if he did, this was so not gonna go well. I knocked on the door and heard his muffled 'come in'. When I walked in he was standing across the room at a table where he was readin some of his books. There were like a dozen of them all open at the same time with bookmarks jammed in them at different places. He stood up as I came in and gave me a small smile. Let me add, it looked like a forced smile. His shoulders were all tensed up and I knew right then and there this would probably be a partin of the ways.

"Hey G," I said, tryin to act as normal as I could. "Willow said you were lookin for me?"

"Yes Faith," he said, "I think we need to talk and I wanted to speak to you alone for right now. We seem to have found some information that has caused me some concern."

Yea, that's what I thought. Here we go. "Don't keep me guessin here, boss. What's the what?" I say still playin innocent.

"I noticed a distinct drop in reports of criminal activity as of late and asked Willow to dig into it a little further. What we found is that a large number of the known criminal element has appeared to have vanished. That would normally be good news, however, I found it disturbing in light of the conversation we had about slayers who had been turned," he continued. Now he couldn't bring himself to look at me. "I have a theory and I hope I'm wrong, but I needed to ask you a question. Is there by chance something you want to tell me?"

This was it, I could come clean now or set fire to the bridges we had been building. I tossed the match on it without even hesitating. "Nope, I got nothing here, dude. Whatcha got in mind?"

Giles took off his glasses and started to clean them while letting out a long sigh. "Faith, I know how much you cared for and would want to protect Buffy, however, I must remind you of how dangerous a slayer turned vampire would be. There would be virtually no way of stopping her if that was to have happened. The demon aspect in her would continue to grow stronger, eventually overwhelming her innate slayerness, until she could not resist and would become the most powerful tool for evil ever known.

Now he did turn to look right at me. "I believe that Buffy did not die in that fire. I believe that she was in fact turned by some vampire and is even now slowly losing the battle with her demon. I hope I'm wrong, but I also think that it would be very unlikely that you, with your slayer connection to her, would be unaware of her continued existence. Now I must ask you again, is there anything you wish to tell me?"

I stared back at him. My Watcher. My friend. I tried to reason with myself that he would understand and help me, but could see in his eyes that he wouldn't. Now I was hurt and also getting pissed. How dare he think he knows what B's like. How could he not give her a chance? I felt myself grow cold as I looked at him and the ice was apparent in my voice when I said, "No Giles. I have abso-friggin-lutely nothing to say to you." I was gettin so angry I knew we had to finish this up quick. I've never been good at keepin my temper and losin it almost always led to violence. I really didn't want to hurt Giles, but I would if he suggested what I think he's gonna suggest.

"Very well, Faith, then I want you to listen to me because I do have some things to say to you," he said in a voice almost as cold as mine. "YOU are a vampire slayer. YOU have been chosen by the Powers that Be to protect mankind from the darkness. It is YOUR destiny and duty to answer that calling regardless of your own selfish personal feelings. If it is Buffy out there, and I sincerely hope that it isn't, you must find her. You must stop her. You must put her soul to rest. Not only for all mankind, but for Buffy's sake as well. She spent her short, young life fighting the demons, it would be unconscionable to allow her to exist as one. If you truly cared for her, you would best show it by giving Buffy her final release."

That's it. I've listened to as much of this bullshit as I could. I said, "You know what Giles? I was wrong. I do have some things to tell ya after all." My voice had gone low and threatening, almost a growl. I found myself movin towards him with my hands tensing up and I made myself stop before I lost all control. "Giles, if Buffy is still alive and if she is out hunting down criminals, isn't that a good thing? Isn't she makin it safer for people to walk around at night without havin to be afraid? Doesn't that prove that she's still in control of herself and able to choose what's right? Doesn't that give her the right to live? If she's takin care of the human scum and we're takin care of the supernatural, this place could actually become the perfect place to live. Hellmouth or not."

"Faith, please listen to me," Giles said in a softer tone. "When Buffy was alive she could not have brought herself to harm anything natural, for any reason. She sometimes felt guilty for killing some of the less harmful demons when she had to. Just the fact that she is able to not only harm, but kill, humans is proof in itself that she is changed. You must see that."

"I don't see nothing G, except that she's makin sure that justice actually happens to the scum that usually get away," I said in an icy voice.

Giles was standin with his back slightly to me. He turned his head over his shoulder and almost pleaded with me, "Faith, surely you realize that we cannot allow ourselves to become involved in human law and justice. No matter what the motivation, it MUST be stopped!"

I shouted back at him, "Come off it Giles! Even if it was true and Buffy was still out there, you can't stand there and tell me this shitty town is worse off for it. She'd be makin it safer, for Christ's sake! And I'm tellin you now, if it is Buffy, there's no way I'm gonna stand by and let _anyone_ hurt her." I turned and went to the door. I just had to get out of here, I could feel my control slippin more with each minute. Grabbin the handle and opening the door I said over my shoulder, "I mean it G, _anyone_." I stormed out the door slammin it closed so hard I felt, as well as heard, it split down the middle.

I was headin home in the bright sunshine, tryin to figure out how things got so fucked up so quick. I was also hopin to hell I was right and he was wrong. That Buffy would stay herself and that I didn't just make the biggest mistake of my life givin her the gem of Amara. If it was a mistake, it'd probably be my last.

Something Wicked This Way Comes


	23. Chapter 23

Chapter 23: Faith's Acceptance

Disclaimer: I do not own any of the recognizable characters contained within.

That would be Joss Whedon, Mutant Enemy, etc….

When I got home I went straight up to my room and flung myself on the bed. Shit, shit, double shit. Giles knows what the deal is and he's not gonna let it go. I just know he won't, that's not his style. He's always been about the 'do the right thing' thing. At least since he got over his "Ripper" phase he has been. But he's wrong this time. He has to be. And I meant every word I said to him too. If absolutely anyone tries to go after B, they're gonna have to go through me. That includes my now ex-Watcher and the Scoob's too. Man, I gotta calm down. This is no time for me to freak and do something stupid. I just need to chill a little and when I see B tonight we'll work it out. Maybe we should just blow this town and set ourselves up somewhere else. Yea, that sounds good. New town, new life, new lover. Damn, that's soundin better and better.

I got a little smile on my face as I remember last night with Buffy. The part after the fight, of course, though the fight itself wasn't too bad. I always did like tangling with her. Getting all up close, rubbin my hot and sweaty body against hers as we each try to come out on top. Feeling her soft, smooth, skin slide under my hands……Uh oh, now I'm getting upset in a totally different way. The whole argument with Giles is slippin outta my mind fast as my body starts reacting to the pictures in my head. My skin is getting flushed and there's a warm feeling spreadin through me as my blood starts to run hotter and hotter.

It'll be a while before Joyce comes home so I start to slip my hand under the covers when I hear a quiet step outside my door. It slowly opens and my breath catches in my throat as Buffy walks in. I didn't expect to see her here, but I shoulda remembered she told me a vamp can always enter their own house. She's dressed in a white button up tuxedo shirt and black nylons. It don't look like she's wearin anything else and believe me, she doesn't need anything else. She's also got her vamp face on, but I dunno, I'm almost getting used to seein her in it.

"Hey baby," she says, "You look a little upset. You don't mind me being here do you?"

I can finally breathe again so I say, "Don't mind at all B, in fact I was just thinkin of you."

"Just thinking of me, huh," she says smiling and she's staring at my hand under the covers. "You want some company Faith?" she asks.

Man, talk about perfect timing. Throwin the blankets back I say, "Oh, hell yea! Just…….can ya lose the gameface? It's kinda givin me the wiggins.

"As you wish," she purrs and she slowly morphs her face back to normal. She starts unbuttoning the shirt as she comes closer to the bed and I can see the black lace bra, briefs, and garter belt she's wearin. Toppin it off she's wearin black six inch open toe heels. A jolt of electricity runs through me and is being chased by the slayer tingles I get from her. As I look at the way the heels are makin her leg muscles flex, every nerve in my body is instantly at attention and screaming for me to hold her. She drops the shirt by the side of the bed as she slowly climbs onto it. She starts crawlin up between my legs like a big cat, takin her time and watchin my eyes widen with desire. She still has her smile on so she must like the effect she's havin on me. Let me tell ya, I'm lovin the effect she's havin on me. When she gets to me, she's holdin herself up on her hands and knees, sorta hoverin over me, close, so close, but still not letting any part of her touch any part of me. I was already worked up before she even came through the door, now I'm just keep getting hotter and hotter. She leans in so there's only a breath between her lips and mine. Then she starts speaking and I feel little puffs against my lips with each word.

Her voice is low and sexy. Each word has a softness to it like silk and also an underlying edge like a razor. The mix of sex and danger is killing me, fuelin my desire for her to even greater heights. I start moanin low in my throat and she still hasn't even touched me yet. Oh yea, this is gonna be sooo good.

"Faith baby," she whispers and I can feel my hips jerk towards her by themselves. Man, she is gonna be the death of me if she doesn't touch me soon.

I try to swallow but my throat has gone dry. I lick my lips and try to speak, "Yea B?" I start to put my arms around her to pull her into me, but she won't move. She stays there frozen above me and I might as well be pulling on the side of a building.

"Uh,uh,uh, Faith," she breaths out, "audience participation is not required. You just lay back and let me make all those worries running around in your head go away." She takes one hand and pushes my arms above my head. First one, then the other and holds them both there in one hand. I'm startin to get a little freaked now, I don't like to be restrained usually. I mean yea I've done it before, but havin slayer strength, I could easily get outta any restraint if I didn't like the way things were goin. This time though, if she wanted to hold me still, I would have no choice. So there was a small part of my brain startin to scratch its panic claws into me. I soon found that instead of the panic dulling the hornies, it was stoking them. I was getting hotter by the minute just thinkin that Buffy had me in a position where she could do anything she wanted and I would be helpless to stop her. In fact I could feel how excited I was getting start to leak out and she must of noticed too, cause her nostrils started flaring and her smile got even bigger.

"There's my girl," she said and leaned down to lick along the side of my neck and up to my ear. "Do you have any idea the things I can do to you? The things I can make you feel? I can make you explode with pleasure just with my voice alone." I started shuddering as she nibbled on my ear lobe and felt my hips again bucking upwards, trying to grind into her. My breath is coming in short, sharp, pants now and my head is feeling dizzy as the feeling of arousal starts spiraling up through me. I let out a small whimper and feel myself rushing closer towards the edge. God, I feel like I'm ready to pop and she hasn't even really touched me yet.

She still has hold of my arms in one hand and is supporting herself with her other. She moves from my ear to my neck laying light kisses with the occasional nip along my hot skin. As she first licks then starts sucking on my pulse point, she lets her weight drop down full on top of me and slides herself perfectly between my legs. The sudden friction of our hips pressed so hard and close together is almost enough to end me and I call out, "B….B…. Ohhh….."

I can feel her chuckle vibrate through her chest and with her breasts sliding across mine the vibration goes through me like a shock wave. Her body is warmin up from the full body rub we got goin on and I'm losing my mind here. I can't string two coherent thoughts together, all I can do is feel how good it is. She works her way around to the other side of my neck and I hear her whisper to me again, "Faith, I wanta taste you."

Oh yea, my head is noddin almost before she finishes talkin and I gasp out, "Please, Buffy…" Then I feel her teeth slowly sink into my neck. The slight pain under all the pleasure is all it takes to send me over the edge. There are lights flashing behind my eyelids as I slam my eyes closed and just let myself go. I'm shuddering all over and B's hands clamp down a little tighter holdin my arms in place so I can't move them. She may have my arms pinned, but the rest of me is squirmin and buckin underneath her and can't stop. Wave after wave of pleasure rolls through me as our hips continue to rock together, until I think I musta passed out, cause next thing I know, I'm openin my eyes to the feel of her slowly licking over a sore spot on my throat.

"Welcome back baby," she says lookin up at me with that wicked ass grin on her face. She pulls me in tighter to her and gives me a long deep kiss. "Feeling better?" she asks.

I can't speak for a moment as I try and remember how to talk. There are still small earthquakes running through my body, starting from the ends of my hair and going all the way to the tips of my toes and back. Yea I know there's no nerves in hair, but I swear to Christ I can feel it. "Feel….better….yea." I manage to say and I gotta close my eyes again. It's just too hard to keep them open right now.

"That's right, baby. Just close your eyes and rest for awhile," she says. "We'll talk some when you wake up."

I feel her lips touch mine again as I start to drift off and I manage to mumble, "Love ya." The last thing I hear before falling asleep is her quiet laugh.

Faith's Acceptance


	24. Chapter 24

Chapter 24: Not What I Thought

Disclaimer: I do not own any of the recognizable characters contained within.

That would be Joss Whedon, Mutant Enemy, etc….

I woke screaming to a voice callin me. "Faith honey, come on wake up." I sat straight up in the bed, yelling out "Buufffyyy!" I could feel my hands burning and as I started to realize where I was, I saw that it wasn't Buffy with me. It was Joyce. She was sitting on the edge of the bed with a worried look on her face.

"Faith, Faith," she was saying, "It's alright honey. I'm here. It was just a dream. It's okay." She started to reach for my hands and saw the redness of first degree burns slowly fading. "Honey, what was it? What happened to your hands?" she asked and there was so much concern in her voice I coulda cried.

"Nothing, Joyce. Just a nightmare. I musta fallen asleep after I came home," I said looking around for any sign that B was still here. "I'm…I'm alright now. Thanks for wakin me."

"I think you woke yourself, along with anyone else in a three mile radius that might have been napping," she laughed. "That must have been some nightmare you had."

I noticed she was avoiding the fact that I woke up screaming Buffy's name and if she wasn't gonna ask, I wasn't gonna tell. It had been awhile since I had that dream of Buffy burning and to tell ya the truth, it was much worse than I remembered. I looked at my hands again and they were completely back to normal now. Even the pain had faded like the dream, gone without a trace.

I quickly glanced down to make sure I was still dressed and thankfully I was. We never did get to the stripping part of the festivities earlier and hard to believe, but, I'm glad we didn't now. Joyce was talkin again and I had to pull my attention back to her and concentrate on what she was saying.

Joyce saw the confused look in my eyes and said gently, "Faith, I asked if you're sure you're alright? Was it a Slayer dream? Do you want me to call Rupert?"

I thought, not on your life. The last person I wanna talk to is Giles. Instead I said, "Nah, Joyce. It's all good. I just hada get my bearings a little. Trust me, everything is five by five."

"Okay honey," she replied, giving me that little mom smile, "But if you want to talk about it, please let me know? I'll always be here for you if you need me. You know that right?"

I nod my head and said, "Yea, I know Joyce, but I got this one. I think I just need to rest a little while and I'll be fine. K?"

"Okay," she answered, "I'll be just downstairs if you need anything." Then she went to the door and left.

As soon as she was gone I jumped outta the bed and started looking around for wherever B may have got to. It was like a Three Stooge's routine or something. I looked in the closet, under the bed, I even looked behind the dresser, dork that I am. No sign of her anywhere. I had a feelin this time she didn't duck out to get me coffee and donuts, but I looked around for a note anyway. Finding nothing I threw myself back onto the bed, laying on my stomach and tried to go over every aspect of the nightmare again.

It seemed the same as best I could remember. Crypt, Vamps, fight, torch, fire, helpless. Yep, pretty much the same as before. So why did it come back to haunt me now? I dunno, maybe I felt a little guilty about snapping on Giles or something. Whatever, I ain't gonna worry about it right now. I realize I'm rubbing my neck and that it's sore. Goin over to the dresser I look in the mirror and pull back my hair. There just below my ear are two little fang marks. Son of a bitch! I suddenly remember Buffy biting me, not only that but now that I'm thinking about it I'm remembering that I liked it. Liked it hell, I loved it. God dammit, I said I wasn't gonna be her happy meal and now look at me. My heart rate picked up just thinking about how it felt to have her teeth sunk into my neck.

We are so gonna have words when I find her. When she said she wanted to 'taste me' and I agreed, I thought she was talkin about something totally different. I don't care if I did end up enjoying what she actually did or not. That's not the point, right? She's gotta work on her, whata ya call it, communication skills, that's it. She can't be saying one thing and doin something else, not if she wants to keep me from staking her ass.

I guess I can count my blessings Joyce didn't see those marks. That woulda definitely brought down a world of shit. With her being worried about me and my hair hanging down coverin them she probably wouldn't have seen them even if she was lookin. I can see it now, her first call woulda been to Giles and the Scoob's then we woulda had to have a Slayer/Vamp intervention. If it didn't work with Buffy and Angel why would it work on me, right?

I start stripping down and head for the bathroom. I wanna get a shower to help clear my head from the nightmare. When I get to the there I realize my throat feels dry as a desert. I grab the glass off the sink and start running the cold water. After about six glasses my thirst starts to let go of me and I turn the water off. I'm also feelin light headed. How much blood did Blondie take anyway? We are so gonna have words over this.

The shower makes me feel more like myself so I get dressed and go downstairs. Yea, I made sure my neck was covered too. I dunno how long it'll take for the bite marks to fade, or even if they will, so I better get used to wearin this choker collar. Its black velvet and clips in front with a small silver cross. Heh, the next time B tries for a taste a me she's gonna get a surprise.

When I get downstairs, Joyce is in the kitchen cookin and I go in to help her. I start makin the salad and she looks up from the chicken she's filleting.

"It's been awhile since you've had that nightmare, huh?" she asks quietly.

I just look at her for a minute. "You knew?" I ask.

She said, "That you had nightmares when you first came here? Yes. What they were about, not so much. But, I can take a guess. It's about you not being able to save Buffy, isn't it?"

I told ya before Joyce didn't miss much. "Yea, that's about it." I say, letting out a long breath.

She comes around the counter and puts her arm across my shoulders to give me a hug. "Oh honey, I told you none of that was your fault. You weren't even there. If you had been, you might have died too. Please try and not let it bother you. If you want, I know a psychologist that's pretty good. It might help if you talked to someone trained to deal with this kind of thing."

I couldn't help it. I started laughing as Joyce looked at me in surprise. "Trained to deal with this kinda thing? Vamps, slayers, apocalypses? How does someone get trainin in that?" I asked a little sharply.

"I meant trained in dealing with nightmares, Faith. Regular grief counseling. I know you couldn't tell them all about being a slayer, not without getting yourself committed to an asylum. I'm not that naïve," she said. I could hear the hurt in her voice and was instantly sorry. I really am an ass sometimes.

"I'm sorry Joyce," I said. "I know you're only tryin to help and that you want what's best for me, but I gotta do this on my own. I've always dealt with stuff myself and I can't just stop now. I really am sorry I snapped at you."

"Okay Faith," she replied "I understand your need to rely on yourself and I will respect it, but that doesn't mean I'm not going to try and help if I can."

Things seemed cool between us and we ate without any tension in the air. She told me about her latest exhibits and what was the current hot seller at the gallery. I told her some mild patrol stories, cause I didn't want to upset her again. Then we did the dishes and chilled in the living room for a while. The sun was startin to go down and I was itching to find B so I told Joyce I was gonna head out on patrol.

"Okay Faith, but be careful out there. I'll see you tomorrow, honey," she said. "Good night."

I grabbed my jacket and said, "Goodnight Joyce, don't wait up," then walked out of the house headin for Angels old mansion or rather, Buffy's new mansion.

I come in through the courtyard in back since I cut through the woods on my way here. Lookin through the French doors I can see B pacing back and forth in front of the big fireplace. She looks like she's talkin on her cell phone, but I only catch part of what she's sayin.

"Look, I don't care if he doesn't want to sell, I want it. So either he can sell it to me or I'll kill him and his heir can sell it to me," she shouts.

"I'll tell you what, you make this happen or I'm coming over there and they will be finding pieces of you into the next century. You got that!.....Good," Then she slammed the phone shut so hard it broke in half. She turned to the fireplace and threw the phone into it. I've never seen Buffy lose it like that before. She's actin…….well, she's actually actin like me when I lose my temper, but that's never been B's thing. She was always Miss cool and calm.

I walk into the room and call out, "Hey there, B. Am I interrupting something?"

She looks over at me and gives me a smile, "Faith. No, you're not. I was just taking care of some real estate problems. All finished."

"Yea," I said, "Interesting way of negotiating there B. What's next? Send around the goon squad?" I'm trying to joke around, being my regular smart assed self, but she's not getting it.

She starts being bitchy. "Get over it Faith. It's just business. It's how things are done so don't worry about it, okay?"

"I got it B," I said. "Poor little Faith can't understand the workings of the real world, right? That's cool. You say ya got it, ya got it. Now how about we talk about your disappearing act today, huh? And then we'll move on to the different but critical meanings of 'taste'." My voice is getting louder as I'm talkin, cause I'm startin to feel a little pissed myself.

"For Christ's sake, Faith will you drop the poor, dumb girl routine?" She starts coming towards me as she's speaking. "You fell asleep and my mom came home. I couldn't very well stick around and reminisce with her could I? What did you expect me to do, hide in the closet till she left?"

Well yea. I actually thought she coulda, but I wasn't gonna say that now. Especially with her right up in my face.

Buffy was still on her rant, "And as far as the meaning of 'taste', you should of known damn well what I meant. Hello, vampire. Besides the fact that you totally liked it. So why are you bitching about now?"

Why am I bitching about it? Is she nuts? "Buffy," I say to her and I really am trying to stay calm, "Yea, I mighta liked it, but there was no way I knew that you were gonna bite me when you did it. What am I, some kinda mind reader?"

Her eyes flashed yellow and she grabbed me by my arms, lifting me off the ground. As she looked up at me she growled out, "What you are is mine, Faith. I marked you. I own you. You will always be mine so you better get used to the idea." Then she pulled me into her and she kissed me.


	25. Chapter 25

Chapter 25: Mixed Signals

Disclaimer: I do not own any of the recognizable characters contained within.

That would be Joss Whedon, Mutant Enemy, etc….

Buffy's holdin my arms in a steel grip and my feet are barely touching the ground. She's got her lips crushed to mine and I don't feel any tenderness comin from her. It's not a kiss of love. It's more an act of possession, like she's trying to prove a point. Well, I gotta point to make too. I pull my knees up between us as hard as I can and kick my legs out, catchin her square in the chest. The force of the move breaks her grip on me and sends her flying across the room while I land on my ass. I flip up into a fighting stance as she jumps back to her feet. We stand there for a minute facing off, just kinda eyeing each other up. Waitin to see how far this is gonna go.

Her eyes still have a yellow tinge to them and as I watch, it slowly fades back leaving her normal gorgeous emerald green. "Come on Faith," she says in a much calmer tone. "I don't want to fight with you. I was mad at the guy who is supposed to be handling the sale of this place. I didn't mean to take it out on you. Forgive me?" She's lookin at me with her eyes slightly lowered and a half smile on her lips. Damn, she's tryin to play me. I know it. She knows it, and she knows I know it. Dumbass me is letting it work too. What the hell is happenin to me?

"Buffy, we gotta get this shit straight right up front," I tell her. "Nobody owns me. Nobody uses me, not ever again. I'm here cause I wanna be with you, but if you ever try that bullying bullshit again, I swear to God we're gonna throw down for real. You hearin me?"

B starts walking slowly over to me. She's takin her time so she doesn't spook me. "Yes, I'm 'hearing' you. Loud and clear. No more rough stuff. Well, maybe occasional rough stuff," she adds with a coy little smile.

Now she's got me smirkin at her. She leans up against the front of me and stretches up slowly, this time the kiss is what it's supposed to be. Full of love and tenderness and passion. She runs her fingers down the side of my jaw to my neck, leavin goose bumps in their wake. Slowly her fingers drift across the choker I'm wearin and I realize she's fingerin the cross on the front of it.

My eyes musta widened some in surprise cause she gave a little laugh and said, "I really want to thank you again for my ring, baby."

I look from her face to her hand and see the gem of Amara sitting on her finger. That's why the cross had no effect on her. How the hell stupid can I be?

"You're welcome B," I tell her. "How bout if we get outta here and do a patrol? I gotta burn off some of this energy." I take her hand in mine and kiss her finger tips while slowly playin with the ring on her finger. It twists around pretty easy, so I guess it's not as tight of a fit as it looked.

"I could help you burn it off right here," she answers back while startin to rock slowly back and forth along the front of me.

I close my eyes with the sensations but I'm not gonna let this happen right now. Buffy was acting too crazy when I walked in and that bullshit of tryin to manhandle me is not gonna fly, no matter what she thinks. I tell her, "As good as that sounds B, I gotta at least make a show of keeping the demons in check. Wouldn't want word to get back to Giles that I been slackin, ya know?"

She gives me a pout, but I can tell she doesn't mean it. "Okay, duty calls and all that. I still have some business to take care of tonight. Why don't you patrol and I'll catch up to you around four in the morning at the docks? We can walk out on the pier and watch the sunrise. You said you wanted to do that with me. Maybe it'll be the last one you get to see. Its time you made up your mind, Faith. Its time you really give yourself to me." She gave me a short kiss again and started walking away.

My mind started goin over everything that happened between us and she was right. It was time this was decided one way or the other. "Alright B, I'm outta here," I said. I'll see ya later." I headed for the door and turned back before I left. "I'll always love ya B, ya know that right?" I asked.

She looked over at me, "I know Faith," she said, then added more quietly, "I'm actually counting on it." I nodded my head at her and left.

I'm walkin through the second cemetery of the night and my mind is still confused over what I'm gonna do. The argument keeps ragin, 'Giles was right. Giles was wrong. She's changed and changing. Of course she's changing, she's got a demon in her now, but she can control it. She didn't control it earlier. It was a slip up.' My head feels like it's gonna exploded and I'm starting to get a headache. I love her. Can I continue to love her? Does she really love me? Just havin to ask that question is almost an answer in itself. What the hell am I gonna do?

I take a look around. Nothin much happenin at this cemetery either, so I figure I'll hit one more before callin it a night.

I got to take out some of my frustration in the next cemetery. I was walkin along kinda distracted with my thoughts and walked right into a vamp. This shit with Buffy is gonna end up getting me killed. That thought makes me bark out a laugh. Either we're gonna fight and she'll kill me or I'll let her turn me, one way or the other I'll still be dead. The vamp looks at me like I'm crazy for laughing at him and tries to grab me. I let him get a grip on my arm, then reverse the grip, twist his arm under and out, snapping it at the elbow. Seein the bone stickin out through the skin and hearin his scream of pain just sets me off. I let go of his flopping arm and step to the side, using a side kick to shatter his left knee cap. I feel the buzz building inside me and the walls holdin back my frustration don't just come down, they explode.

He tries to stand up and face me but I'm off in my own world. I just wanna make him hurt as much as I am. I spin around him hearin the death music start up in my head and front kick him into the wall of a nearby crypt. I dance in towards him, easily blockin his pathetic attempts punch me. I start wailin on him with my fists. I relish the feel of his cheek bones breakin under the merciless poundin I'm dishing out. As he starts to sag, I grab him by the neck and stand him up again, still poundin away with my other fist. I don't even realize what I'm doin as I keep hitting him. Face, throat, ribs, kidneys and then back up. With each blow I land he feels more like a sack of rotten tomatoes than a body.

He's beaten so bad he can't even lift his arms anymore. He's just plastered up against the crypt. The speed of my blows is the only thing holdin him up. I realize tears are runnin down my face and I'm screamin out, "Why, you fucker? Why did you take her? No good, dead ass, bastard, demon, you stole her from me. It coulda been anyone else, why her? Why can't she fight it? She never lost a fight before in her life. Why's she losin this one? You undead, murderin, son of a bitch."

I slowly came back into my right mind and look down at the pile of broken flesh and bone at my feet. There's blood everywhere and the skin is torn away from my knuckles. I swipe my sleeve across my face to wipe away the last of my tears, then pull my stake out of my pocket and dust what was left of the vamp. I turn and walk away as the wind scatters his dust and it suddenly comes to me. I know what I'm gonna do. What I gotta do.

Ya see, I do still love Buffy. I would still kill for her. I would still die for her. All along I've been tryin to figure out what might of changed for me and the truth is, nothing has changed for me. I'm gonna stop home first, then go see Giles. Yea it's late at night, but he'll just hafta wake up and deal. I gotta try and explain to him what's goin on. I gotta say thank you. I gotta say goodbye.


	26. Chapter 26

Chapter 26: Saying Goodbye

Disclaimer: I do not own any of the recognizable characters contained within.

That would be Joss Whedon, Mutant Enemy, etc….

Thanks still go out to Jinxgirl and FaithLehane (FaithSummers) for pre-reading and comments!!!

I quietly let myself into the house and go up to my room. On my way past Joyce's room I peak inside. She's laying there sleepin with a strand of hair falling over the side of her face. I creep over to the bed so I don't wake her and lightly brush it back behind her ear. She gets a little smile on her face, but stays asleep. I just look at her for a while, thinkin about all she gave me, how much she cares and tryin not to think about how much what I'm gonna do is gonna hurt her. She was always good to me and she's had enough pain in her life. It breaks my heart that I'm gonna add more to it. I straighten up and slip out of the room. I've made up my mind. I hafta do what's best for me. I'm sorry it's gonna hurt Joyce and wish to Christ there was some other way, but there's not.

Closing her door carefully I move on down the hall to Buffy's old room. Goin inside I look around at all the things that told the story of who Buffy was. The frilly comforter on the bed. The posters still up on the walls of lame ass boy bands. The bookshelf with Mr. Gordo sitting in the middle of it all, lookin back at me. I sit down on the bed and let my hand caress the covers, thinking back to when I first met B. How full of life she was. I smile at the memory of patrolling with her, flirtin so hard with her she would turn red. She used to get so embarrassed with me she would finally not be able to say anything. She would just stand there, looking at me with her head cocked to the side and a small pout on her lips. I can feel my eyes tearing up again and I roughly wipe them away. Enough of this, I got things to do and time is running out.

Goin into my room I walk over to the desk Joyce has in here and open the top drawer. Ya see, I've been keepin a journal ever since Buffy died. I went back and wrote down everything that happened to me leadin up to that night in the Bronze when I stormed off and everything that's happened since. At first it was a way to help me deal with the guilt of walkin out on her that night. Later it was a way of tryin to get my thoughts straight, since I couldn't really talk to anyone else about what was goin on. Now I'm just glad I did it, cause it'll make it easier to let Giles know how I got to where I am. After I talk to him, I'll leave it at his place and he can read it when he finds it. Maybe then he'll understand. I hope so anyway.

Takin a last look around I don't see anything I'll need to take with me, so I leave as quietly as I came in. I slowly start walkin over to Giles' place, just enjoying the temporary peace and quiet of the night. It's a nice night too. Cloudless sky, bright half moon, so many stars they look like they go on forever. Forever, heh, I wonder how long forever actually is. How would someone fill all that time? Would it get boring after awhile? Doin the same thing century after century. I guess that's why vamps travel a lot. To kinda break up the boredom. Ya know, new places to see, new people to kill. I chuckle a little at that thought. The old Buffy would love to have an eternity. She would have spent it shoppin. Damn, think of the sheer number of shoes she would have after only ten years, let alone ten decades. I wonder if she still obsesses over shopping?

My feet have brought me to Giles place while my mind was busy wandering. I go up to the door and give a quick but loud knock. I can hear shuffling around inside and someone movin towards the door. I guess Giles hasn't been sleepin to well lately either. He opens the door and his eyes widen in surprise.

"Oh Faith," he says, "I'm so glad to see you. Please, come in."

"Hiya, G." I said, "I'm sorry it's kinda late and all, but I needed to talk to ya."

"No, no Faith. It's quite alright. I'm happy to see you. I may have been out of line when last we spoke and wanted to apologize," he said to me. He ushered me in and closed the door, then led the way over to his couch. "Can I get you anything to eat or drink," he offered.

"Yea, something to drink would be good. Whatever ya got that's cold. Don't go to no trouble, okay?" I answered back. We're both kinda feelin each other out. We're both tryin to see how much damage that last argument did. It's a little tense, but nowhere near what I thought it would be. Giles went into his kitchen area and I took my journal from outta my pocket and put it on the desk, in with some of his other books. I had stopped on the way over here and added the final entry. The one that brought it up to tonight and what I was gonna do. What choice I finally made. I moved back over to the couch as he came into the room holdin out a soda to me. I took it and sat down, Giles sat down next to me and started cleanin his glasses. That's something else I realize I'm gonna miss. The sight of Giles rubbin away at his lenses whenever he gets nervous or worried. For some reason that was always a comfortin sight, ya know? It sorta confirmed for me that he was on the job and that big brain of his was workin overtime.

I'm smiling at that thought when he looks up at me and he gives me a small smile back. "So, what did you want to speak to me about?" he asks.

Now I'm havin trouble. I'm findin out that deciding to do something is one thing, actually doin it is another. "Look G, this is really gonna be hard for me, so I'd like to get it all out at once if I can," I start. "Ya can ask questions when I'm done and I'll answer as many as I can, but let me finish first, K?"

Giles has a slightly worried look on his face, but he's nodding his head and said, "Alright Faith, I'll try not to interrupt you. What did you want to tell me?"

"Okay," I start, "Well, ya said ya know how I felt about Buffy, right?" I look at him and he nods his head again but doesn't say anything. Those British dudes really take their word seriously. "Right," I continue, "You were kinda right about what we talked about last time. Buffy didn't die in that fire, she was actually turned by some vamps, but then she killed them all for doin it." I peek over at him and his eyes are serious, but not hostile. I get the feelin that he's not hearin anything he didn't already figure out on his own. "So, anyway, I'm the one that went back to the crypt and set it on fire to cover for her. I just didn't want anyone goin out to try and hunt her down, ya know?" Again I look over at him and he's sittin there lookin back. It doesn't seem like he's gonna say anything so I tell him, "Giles, when I said don't interrupt I didn't mean don't say anything at all. Give a girl some feedback would ya?"

"I merely was trying to comply with your request, Faith," he said. "However since you asked, I believe you already know how irresponsible I think that decision was and I don't feel the need to go over it again."

Whew, that went over better than I thought it would. I continue my pacin and say to him, "Yea, thanks for that by the way. Okay where was I? Okay, so later that night B comes to my motel room and we talk for awhile then she left."

"Just talked for awhile?" he asked. "Nothing else occurred and that was the first time you saw her?"

"Not exactly," I answer him slowly. "The first time I saw her was the day we went lookin for her at the closed down clinic." That did it. His eyebrows shot up nearly to his hair line he was so surprised.

"And you felt there was no need to tell me this?" he asked. "I asked you specifically that day if you found any sign of Buffy and you deliberately told me an untruth."

"I know, I know, Giles and I'm sorry," I said. "But I was all confused about my feelings for her. She said she wanted me, that she loved me. Do you have any idea how long I waited for that to happen? Do you have any idea how much B sayin that to me meant?"

"Yes, well, forgive me Faith," he replied, "I should think that the emotional trauma would be more than enough to confuse anyone. So………"

"B decided she wanted me to be with her, like really be with her. Forever. She wants me to let her turn me into a vamp so we can be together, always," I told him. I was lookin down at the floor, cause I just couldn't stand to see the horror I knew would be in his eyes. The disappointment.

He starts talkin to me in a low calm voice. The kind you would use with someone standin on a roof ledge, threatenin to jump. "Faith, please tell me you are not really considering this, this atrocity? Having one slayer turned vampire will be difficult at best to deal with, not to mention it is Buffy we are talking about. The longest lived slayer ever recorded. But to have you join her, willingly join her I might add, could quite literally bring about the end of the world as we know it. Once again I must plead with you. Do not do this. We will find a way to stop her, to control her. Maybe Willow can do an ensouling spell, like we did for Angelus. That would at least give her back a conscious, it would temperate her actions."

"I don't think your gonna be able to restrain her Giles," I tell him. I might as well get it all out now, right. He couldn't possibly hate me anymore than he does now. "She's kinda invincible now. I kinda made sure she would be safe from anyone tryin to kill her."

"Good Lord, Faith," he gasped out. "The gem of Amara. Don't tell me you found it and actually gave it to her. Whatever would possess you to do a thing like that? Didn't you realize that you have now virtually guaranteed her absolute dominion? With the gem in her possession, there is nothing on this earth that will be able to stop her. We are all now at her complete mercy and without a conscience to control her, I very seriously doubt there will much mercy going around."

I felt smaller and smaller with each of his words. And yea, I did realize what he was saying had some truth to it. A lot of truth actually, but what was done is done. It can't be changed and I'm not sure I would go back and change it if I could. All I could do is try and explain to him, tell him what I was gonna do. "Giles," I said, "I'm meeting Buffy at dawn and we're gonna go away together. We're gonna disappear. You won't hear from us again and that's why I wanted to come here tonight and talk to you. I didn't think it fair to just run out on ya without an explanation. You need to trust me on this. It's my problem and I am gonna fix it."

"There is no way I can let you go out there alone, Faith," Giles said to me. Once again the concern in his voice and eyes were enough to break my heart.

"There's no way you can stop me G," I warn him. "I don't wanna hurt ya, but I'll knock you out and leave ya on the couch if you try." Then I give a chuckle, "Besides, I don't think your head can take bein thumped on too many more times. Concussions are becomin like a hobby for ya aren't they?" I stand and head over to the door to leave, but Giles gives it one more shot.

"Please Faith," he pleads again, "Think about what you are doing. What about the Hellmouth? Who will protect mankind from it if you are gone? What about Joyce? Have you even thought about what this will do to her?"

I stood there facin the door with my hand holding the latch. I let my head hang down, cause yea, I've thought about all those things until I nearly went out of my mind. In fact, I did go a little out of my mind, the last vamp I slayed would tell ya if he could. "I asked ya to trust me G," I said quietly. "The Hellmouth'll be taken care of one way or another. There's always another slayer to be called, right?" Then I looked back over my shoulder to him. "As for Joyce, I was hopin you'd take care of her for me. Stick around and make it as easy as you can for her. Would ya do that for me? Please?"

He musta finally saw I was serious and would not be talked out of goin. He said "Of course, Faith".

I gave him a big smile, dimples and all, "Goodbye Giles, been quite a ride," and I went out to meet my fate.


	27. Chapter 27

Chapter 27: New Day Dawning

Disclaimer: I do not own any of the recognizable characters contained within.

That would be Joss Whedon, Mutant Enemy, etc….

Morning's getting closer. After ya been a slayer for a while, you can just tell. I guess all that time spent hunting at night resets your internal clock or something. All I know is that I can always tell when the sun's getting ready to peek up over the horizon. B used to sense it too and she's probably even more sensitive to it now. There's a stillness to the air, a calm where even the slightest of breezes seems to stop and wait, not willing to move as the new day dawns. I guess there's about two hours left till sunrise. That would make it around three-thirty and time for me to head down to the docks and meet Buffy. It'll be strange seeing her in the daylight. I guess I've finally gotten use to the idea of her being a vamp. I only needed to be clubbed over the head with it six or seven times.

As I near the docks, I can smell the salt on the ocean air. It has a clean smell to it, like new beginnings. Kinda fittin, right? New day, new beginning, new clean fresh smell, Damn, I sound just like a dryer sheet commercial. I can feel the sun movin closer to the horizon than ever and the sky has gone from deepest blue/black to a majestic purple. The stars stand out even more against the lighter backdrop. I wonder why that is? You would think that the greater the contrast, the more visible they would appear, but that's not the case. Or maybe it's just me. There's the palest line of light along the edge where the sky meets the ocean at what looks like a million miles away.

In the fading darkness I can see a lone figure standing out on the pier. Buffy. She's lookin off in the direction of the horizon, totally at ease. Her arms hanging loose at her sides and the breeze blowin the wisps of hair that escaped her hair clip back from her face. I can see the faint outline of her face and see she's in vamp mode. Must be some kinda challenge to the day light. That's one of the more obvious changes, since she got turned, she's a lot more cocky than she used to be. Not that that's a bad thing, just one more way she's different. She seems pretty confident that the sun won't harm her, but I guess she already proved that the day she showed up in my room at her mom's house.

I start walkin down the boards of the pier and I can see her stance shift slightly. She knows I'm here. She woulda known I was here even without super hearing, though. The connection between us has been humming and revving up ever since I hit the docks. The closer I get to her the more powerful it is, sending little shock waves running along under my skin. I'm betting it's the same for her. It might even be the reason she finally admitted to wanting me. Where else could she get that rush, those tingles, from just being close to someone? I know I never felt anything like it before and from talkin to Red, Buffy never felt it with that Kendra chick either. At least she never told Red and back then they told each other everything.

I stop for a minute just to watch her watching the ocean. I might never have the chance to see her like this again, with the dawning light slowly exposing every line and curve she has. As I'm admiring the view a part of my mind gives a quick thought to Willow and Xander. I hope they welcome the new slayer that's called better than they did me. At first we weren't the best of buds and we never really did become closest friends, but I did come to care for them. Once Willow got over the whole jealousy thing or at least learned to deal and Xander figured out that I loved Buffy which meant I was never gonna sleep with him, they both sorta backed off on the aggression. The new slayer, whoever she is, is gonna need them to help show her the ropes around Sunnydale and maybe if they like her, they'll be able to forgive me eventually. I know they're gonna see this as a betrayal, but it's really not. It's the right thing to do. It's the only thing I can do.

Takin a deep breath of the fresh ocean air, I start walkin forward again. Comin up behind Buffy, I slide my arms around her waist and fit myself snuggly up against her. She leans back into me and her arms encircle mine at her waist.

Tilting her head to the side she says in my ear, "I wasn't a hundred percent sure you'd come. I'm glad you did, though. I would have hated to have had to hunt you down, baby"

Nuzzling the back of her neck and breathing in the smell of her hair, I say, "Ya know I could never deny you anything B." The sun was just barely showing over the ocean and we both stood there for a moment watching it slowly rise.

"It's beautiful, isn't it," she said. "I would never have been able to see it again if it wasn't for you, Faith. First thing we're gonna do when you're a vampire is find a way to duplicate the gem of Amara. Maybe we should turn Willow, she could probably figure it out."

I think, 'B's talkin about turning her friends now?' That is so not of the good. I give her a squeeze and only reply, "Not as beautiful as you," Yea, yea, yea I know. Super cheesy, but just cause its cheesy doesn't make it any less true. At least to me it doesn't.

She laughs and rubs her back into me. "I always knew you were a softie inside Faith," she says. "We're gonna have to work on that some, you know, toughen you up so your insides match your outsides."

"I thought you liked my outsides and my insides for that matter," I tease back. I can feel the suns warmth now. It's rising to meet us. Buffy's skin under my hands is responding to it and heating up, slowly losing the chill of the night air.

"I love all your sides," she says. Suddenly she turns serious, "Faith, will you stay with me now? Will you let me turn you tonight so this perfect moment will be what you remember whenever you think of your last sunrise?"

"B," I say, all teasing leaving my voice as well, "I always wanted to be with you, always did and always will." I turn her in my arms so she's facing me now. The sun continues its journey into the sky behind us, starting to cast the faintest shadows on the wooden slats of the pier we're standing on. Time is getting short. I can feel it. There's an electricity building in the air, something apart from the connection we share. It feels almost alive. Almost magical. B must be feelin it too cause I feel the shivers running through her.

I lean down to her and kiss her lips gently while letting my hands slide down her arms to grip her fingers. I pull back and smile at her, desperately tryin to show her all the love I've always had for her. I bring her hands up to my lips and lay little kisses on each finger while playin with the ring on her hand. That electric feelin is building, and building, then suddenly breaks. A jolt goes through Buffy and she stiffens up, then just as suddenly it's over. She turns her face to mine and it really is her face. My B. The vamp visage is gone.

"Faith," she asks in a small confused voice and my heart shatters for the last time.

"I'll always love you B. Only you, forever. Please forgive me," I plead as I pull the gem of Amara off her hand and throw it into the ocean. I clamp my arms around her as tight as I can, as I feel her start to burn.

New Day Dawning


	28. Chapter 28

Chapter 28: My Worst Nightmare

Disclaimer: I do not own any of the recognizable characters contained within.

That would be Joss Whedon, Mutant Enemy, etc….

I clench my arms tighter around Buffy as I feel the heat growing up around us. I feel my hands start to burn and the smell of my hair catching fire is making me choke. Buffy realizes she's burning and begins thrashing back and forth in my arms, trying desperately to get loose. I hold on even tighter but can feel my grip slippin. B becomes even more crazed in her attempts to get away. She spins suddenly while bringing her arms up over her head. The combination of moves breaks my grip and I'm hit on the side of the head by her elbow as she wrenches herself free. The force of the blow sends me flying backwards and through the wood railing on the pier. My vision is goin grey and the last thing I see is Buffy as a burning pillar of fire running down the pier. I coulda sworn I heard Giles voice calling me "Faith NO." Then as I feel my back hit the water I scream out, "Buuufffyyy," and my throat is full of salt water, everything goes black.

Slowly, so slowly, I swim up to consciousness. It's like pulling myself up through a thick syrup. The closer I get to the surface, the more aware I am of pain. Pain in my hands, pain on the side of my face, pain in my lungs and pain in my heart. I feel a heavy sadness, it's almost enough to make me not bother tryin to fight back. That's not me though, I'd never go down without a fight. It's something I learned long ago, if you gotta go down, make sure you don't go down alone. I don't know where the feelin of sadness is comin from. I don't really know anything aside from the aches and pains throughout my body that are makin themselves known to me on a up close and personal basis.

I can hear voices now and I'm not sure but I think it's getting lighter, or at least I can see less darkness. Less darkness, does that even make sense? Can there be less darkness without there being more light? Light. I remember light, bright light, like a sun, or a fire. The sadness that I don't remember becomes heavier as I think of the light. Why does the thought of light make me sad?

I'm hurtin more now. Must be getting close to the surface. There's a raw burnin sensation in my throat, like something is jammed down it. I try to reach up to my mouth with my hand, but nothing happens. I can't move my hand, or my arm. Neither of them. Alright I'm startin to get freaked now. I do not like to be helpless. When your helpless anyone can do anything to you, and if they get the chance they will. I can feel my head move slightly as I struggle inside to get free. As it moves it feels like a pile of stone blocks are crashin around inside it and I stop all attempts at moving anything at all, until the pain fades a little.

Still getting lighter, I can see dim shapes like through a grey fog. Bodies movin around me. Seems like four or five of em. Are they the ones that put me here? And where is here? One of them is standin at my feet and is lookin down at something he's holdin. Wait a minute, this is familiar. That smell, the smell of disinfectant, ammonia and shit. This is a hospital. How'd I get in the hospital? I don't know for now and I really don't care right now. All I want is to be able to get up and get out.

I start tryin to move again and now I notice sounds. I can hear the beep, beep, beep of a heart monitor. Hear the sounds of shoes shuffling over a linoleum floor. Hear low voices murmuring to each other and the sound of someone crying. That voice I think I remember. Joyce, that's Joyce crying. Joyce she's Buffy's mom, and that's all it took. The floodgates on my memory open wide and I'm hit with the memory of every second that happened up to me hittin the water at the pier.

I go ballistic in my grief. Shaking, thrashing, tryin to rip the tubes and wires from my body. Guess what, I finally got my motor skills back. Motor skills and my voice. I'm screamin as loud as I can, which isn't very much, and fightin to get free. It must of scared the shit out of everyone in the room, cause all of them are movin at once in a panic. Joyce has stopped cryin and is screamin for someone to help me, asking over and over, "What's wrong, what's wrong, somebody help her." The others in the room start to come into focus and I see Giles, Willow and Xander all scrambling to try and help hold me down. They manage to stop me from ripping out any more tubes and that gives the doc time to slap bandages on the spots that are bleedin now.

My short outburst has me exhausted and I slump back on the bed givin myself over to the pain. I deserve the pain. I want the pain. I killed her. I killed Buffy. I killed B. The only person I ever loved, who ever loved me back and I burnt her to death. Yea, I deserve the pain, I deserve to die. Why didn't I die? How did I get from the ocean to a hospital bed in downtown Sunnydale. Ya know what? I don't give a fuck. I just wanna go back under the surface, back into unconsciousness, back where I don't hafta remember.

I'm layin here with tears runnin down my face and I feel a hand on my shoulder. I look up and see Joyce's red eyes and tear stained face lookin back at me and the concern there is too much for me to bear. "I'm sorry Joyce," I rasp out, "I'm so sorry. I killed her. I killed B." and then I'm cryin again and can't say anything else. The doctor comes over and injects something into the one IV that I hadn't ripped out and I slowly feel myself fadin again. Yea, that's good. I'll just fade away and no one will ever hafta look at me again. I'll just fade back into the darkness………….

I'm wakin up again. The pain is less, the physical pain anyway. I don't have the mercy of not remembering this time though. It's all right there, all the images, all the sounds, all the pain. My throat's still sore and I can feel the bandages in my hands, but like I said, I deserve the pain. I slowly open my eyes and see I'm not alone. Joyce notices me wake first and rushes over.

"Faith honey," she says, "We're here. You're going to be alright. We're going to take care of you." 'Goin to be alright? Is she kidding, I'm never gonna be alright again. She musta seen the disbelief in my eyes cause she starts smoothing the hair back on one side of my fac. She's being real careful not to touch anywhere I was burned even though the wounds are pretty well healed over now. I wonder how long I've been out of it.

I try to talk to her, "Hi….hi…Joyce. How…how…long?"

"You've been here a week baby," she says. A week. A week since everything in my life worth havin was thrown away. I lean my head back deeper into the pillows and let my eyes close for a moment. When I open them again I see that the Scoob's and Giles have surrounded the bed. Xander and Willow are lookin uncomfortable, embarrassed even. Giles is watching me with a slightly glazed look in his eyes. I guess they all know by now what I did. Who I killed.

I look at Giles and just had to ask him, "You know?"

He nods slowly and said, "Yes Faith, we know."

It's my turn to nod my head, then I asked, "How'd I get here?"

"Joyce," he says, "Perhaps you and Xander can go down to the café and get Faith some juice. I'm sure the doctors would recommend she stay hydrated."

Xander jumped all over that. "Yea, Mrs. S. can you give me a hand? We can get her a bunch of those box drinks she likes."

Willow was still kinda hoverin in the background and I thought, I bet she really hates me now.

"Okay," Joyce said, then turning to me she added, "I'll be right back honey. Is there anything else you need?"

"No thanks Joyce," I tell her. "The juice would be great though." After they leave I turned to Giles and said, "Okay Giles, now that Joyce is out of the way, give."

"Faith, when you left my house that night you did not have all the facts. When I first started to suspect that Buffy may have been turned, I asked Willow to start gathering the ingredients for an ensouling spell. I didn't know if we would need it or be able to use it, but I did think it was a prudent precaution."

I looked over at Willow and asked, "Why didn't you tell me?"

"I didn't really know what Giles wanted it for at the time Faith," she said nervously. She still wouldn't look at me. "I didn't know about Buffy and you until Giles called me the night you went to meet her." Oh, that's why she wouldn't look at me.

"Okay Red," I tell her and for the first time she looked up and gave me a small smile. "That still doesn't explain why you didn't tell me that night, Giles. You even mentioned getting Red to do an ensouling spell, but you didn't say shit about havin her already on it."

"Yes, well, I might have been a bit remiss in that respect Faith." Giles continued, "In my own defense I can only say that I thought there would still be time to try it. I had only just had my suspicions confirmed by you that night. Then, after you left, I found your journal and discovered what you were planning to do that very morning. I immediately called Willow and told her what was happening and asked her to perform the spell as soon as possible. I then rushed out to find you, to try and stall your actions to allow Willow enough time to attempt the spell. I only reached the pier in time to watch you fall into the water. I called out to you and ran to pull you out. By the time I reached you and returned to land your heart had already stopped. I had to perform CPR until the ambulance came and brought you here."

"What about Buffy," I asked. "Did you see what happened to her?"

"No, I'm afraid not Faith," he answered. "I saw no sign of Buffy anywhere on the pier. I am sorry."

"Maybe the spell worked, maybe she got away," Willow said hopefully. "Maybe she's recovering and she'll get in contact with us." That Red is always lookin for the happy, but I couldn't let her keep thinkin like that.

"No Red," I said and the bitter tone of my voice let her know I was sure. "The spell didn't work, B didn't get away, but thanks, ya know, for tryin."

I could feel my anger as it started to build. The heat of my rage was slowly spreadin through my body. I could control this though. Now was not the time. I could hear Joyce and Xander comin back and they didn't need to hear what I have to say. Neither did Red, she was just tryin to help. I can wait, not too long, but long enough for them to leave.

Ya see, I remember every second of what happened on that pier. I know now that the spell did work. That's what the electric feelin was, that's what jolted B before I….I killed her. I know now that Buffy had her soul, or conscience, or whatever controls humans, back before I pulled the ring off of her finger. I also know now that If Giles had just trusted me the night before, Buffy would still be alive.


	29. Chapter 29

Chapter 29: Yea, I Can Run….

Disclaimer: I do not own any of the recognizable characters contained within.

That would be Joss Whedon, Mutant Enemy, etc….

Here it is the final chapter. Thanks to all who took the time to read and to all reviewers.

Special Thanks to Jinxgirl for all the help!!!!!!!!

The Scoob's hung out most of the day. I asked Joyce to go home and get some sleep, she looked like she'd been up for a year. Giles had left earlier, but now he's back. Woo-fucking-Hoo. He's being real quiet, only talkin when asked questions or for his opinion. And I keep shooting daggers from my eyes at him when Red and Xan aren't lookin. Oh yea, G-man knows there's something up and he sure as shit better know it's not gonna be good.

When they all finally decide to leave I call out to Giles as he gets to the door. "Giles, Could you stay for a minute?" He looks like he aged about twenty years, but tells Willow and Xander to go on without him. He turns back to me and I can see that he knows what's comin. I gotta give him props though, he doesn't try to run.

"Yes Faith?" he asks and he's lookin everywhere but at me.

"How much does Joyce know," I ask. I'm keepin my cool here for now, cause I need to know what Joyce has been told. Let me tell ya, if this British bastard told her everything and that poor woman had to grieve her daughter again, I'm gonna get outta this bed right now and use his blood to paint the walls.

"Nothing really," he says and I sigh out in relief. "I told her that you were fighting a demon down at the docks and somehow were knocked into the ocean. It's not really that far from the truth actually." He's still lookin nervous, he's gotta know he's not gettin off that easy. "Was there something else you wanted?"

There's venom dripping from my voice when I say, "Oh, I think ya know what I want. Ya shoulda told me about Red's spell. Ya coulda givin me some hope. Instead ya just left me hanging, thinkin I was on my own, that I didn't have any choices. We were supposed to be tight. Ya were supposed to have my back. Instead ya cut me off. I wanna know why and I wanna know now."

Giles slowly walks closer to my bed. If he had any real sense he woulda kept as much distance between us as the room would allow. I guess he didn't figure on how quickly I was recoverin my strength. Like I said, slayer healin, ya gotta love it.

"Faith," he starts to explain, "I didn't know what you were going to do until I read your journal. That was after you had already left. Believe me I acted as quickly as I could once I did know. As it turns out, with the spell not working, you did the right thing and I'm very proud of you."

I'm staring at him and the tears are startin to blur my vision. My voice is cold as ice when I say, "I killed Buffy. Don't you get it? The spell fuckin worked! It was Buffy on that pier, not some gaddamn demon. It was B."

His jaw dropped and he starts stammering, "But…but… you told Willow it didn't work. How can you say this now?"

"Willow doesn't deserve to hafta carry that guilt," I tell him and my voice is getting louder as I let some of my pain and anger out. "None of _them_ deserve to carry that guilt. But _you_ do. _You_ deserve to suffer every minute of every day, knowing that if you had just gotten off your high and mighty Watcher's horse, maybe she woulda lived."

He staggered from my words and the hate that was behind them. "Faith, please, I couldn't have known. I'm so sor…….."

I cut him off and hiss out, "If you DARE try to apologize to me, I will beat you to death!"

"Please let me explain," he starts pleading.

"No Giles. We're done. We are through," I keep talkin over him cause I know if I let him speak he's gonna say the wrong thing and I really will beat him to death. I don't want him dead, but yea, I do want him to know how bad he fucked up. "You and me? We're over. I don't ever wanna see or hear from you again. Ya said ya had to do CPR on me? Good, great, then there's another slayer called out there somewhere and I'm sure your buddies at the Council will find her and send her here. And if they don't, well that's just to fuckin bad. I'm outta here as soon as I can get some clothes. And Giles?" He looks up at me. "I mean it, don't you even think of tryin to find me, got it?"

He hangs his head and nods. "Faith, I need to……………," he starts to say and I cut him off again.

"Save it, I don't care and I don't wanna know. I just want you to get out," and now my voice is getting softer. I just can't deal with this anymore. Giles is still standing there lookin lost. "Didn't ya hear me? Get out. Get. The. Fuck. Out!" So much for not screamin anymore, but he moves over to the door and leaves. Hey, I finally got something I wanted.

A coupla days later I'm sittin in a box car headin north, to where I don't know or care. I hear Seattle's nice. I roll my head back against the wall and remember earlier today. I was at the pier, yea the one where my life ended in more ways than one, just starin out over the water as my mind wanders over everything that happened. I dunno, maybe I was tryin to see if I coulda done something different, changed the way it ended. But I didn't come up with nothing, nothing except Giles tellin me Red was gonna do the ensouling spell. That's the one thing I keep comin back to. If I had known I coulda played along with B, wasted the whole day, while waitin for Red do her mojo and by nightfall I woulda had my B back. The real B, the one I first fell in love with.

I'm standin at the rail where it all ended and I here soft footsteps behind me. I know who it is without even turnin around. "Hey Xand," I say. "They send ya to track me down?" Xander and I got a closer as I healed up at the hospital. He understood what it was like to be in love with Buffy and he's the only one that seemed to get why I made the decisions I did. No questions, no accusations. Plus, he brought me my clothes so I could get outta that lame ass hospital gown. That got him major points.

"Nah, they don't even know I'm here. I just thought you might wanna talk some more," he says as he comes up and stands next to me.

"Nope," I tell him. "Talkin's done. Time to move on."

"Where you going to go?" he asks.

"Anywhere that's not here," I reply. "I just can't be here anymore, Xand. Too much sun, too many blondes with green eyes….." I let my voice trail off and Xander puts an arm around my shoulders. I told ya he gets it.

I shrug off his arm and give him a kiss on the cheek. Then I turn to go.

I get a few steps away when Xander calls out, "You can't run, Faith." I just smile at him over my shoulder and keep goin.

That's what got me here. Thinkin about what he said, but Xand was wrong. Yea, I can run, I just can't hide.

Yea, I Can Run


End file.
